Exchange

[Tim Mathews]

I use the Microsoft Exchange server to get and sync mail, calendars and
contacts with my iPhone, iPad and android devices so I'd very much like
to do it as well with Outlook on my laptop but after installing Outlook
(2010) on my Windows 7 Home Pro machine, when I selected Microsoft
Exchange for my e-mail and entered the Gmail info, I got a prompt that
Outlook could not locate the server (m.google.com) and the program hung
between that window and the one telling me to enter the correct server
and username and when checked off as found, continue. I was caught in
this loop and could not regain control of Outlook no matter what I tried.

So, my question is, is this "m.google.com" server address for Exchange
only workable with tablets and smartphones or should it work with
Outlook? If it should can and will someone clue me in as to what to
enter for my server and username? As stated, I simply used m.google.com
and my Gmail e-mail address which is how it's done using the
smartphone/tablet.

Thanks,
Tim

PS I since removed Office entirely from my system and re-installed it
and it's working perfectly with my Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud (Apple's
cloud IMAP mail service) IMAP accounts but, as I said, I'd like to use
the Gmail account with Exchange as that allows me to easily sync
contacts and calendars between all my devices.

 

[VanguardLH]

I use the Microsoft Exchange server to get and sync mail, calendars and
contacts with my iPhone, iPad and android devices so I'd very much like
to do it as well with Outlook on my laptop but after installing Outlook
(2010) on my Windows 7 Home Pro machine, when I selected Microsoft
Exchange for my e-mail and entered the Gmail info, I got a prompt that
Outlook could not locate the server (m.google.com) and the program hung
between that window and the one telling me to enter the correct server
and username and when checked off as found, continue. I was caught in
this loop and could not regain control of Outlook no matter what I tried.

So, my question is, is this "m.google.com" server address for Exchange
only workable with tablets and smartphones or should it work with
Outlook? If it should can and will someone clue me in as to what to
enter for my server and username? As stated, I simply used m.google.com
and my Gmail e-mail address which is how it's done using the
smartphone/tablet.

Thanks,
Tim

PS I since removed Office entirely from my system and re-installed it
and it's working perfectly with my Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud (Apple's
cloud IMAP mail service) IMAP accounts but, as I said, I'd like to use
the Gmail account with Exchange as that allows me to easily sync
contacts and calendars between all my devices.

So do you really run your own MS Exchange e-mail server? Or is that
only at your workplace where they have an Exchange server available on
their corporate network for use by their employees? If you don't have
an Exchange server at home, and presumably your employer isn't
interested in running a publicly accessible Exchange server available to
just anyone that wants one, then why are you trying to define an
Exchange account at home?

Gmail doesn't operate or provide an Exchange server. They provide POP,
IMAP, and SMTP mail servers, so that's the type of accounts you have to
define in your local e-mail client.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Server

If your company is making externally accessible their Exchange server
then you will have to contact them on how to use that server. They may,
for example, require use of a VPN to protect their network and allow
only your host to externally connect to their server on their corporate
network. They'll know if and how you use their company resources when
not on their company's network.

You weren't using an Exchange account when you used your smartphone.
m.google.com is for use by mobile devices. Plus you are not using a
regular e-mail client but instead a Gmail app. Who knows what
proprietary communications protocol that the app and server use with
each other since this is a specialized setup. It is likely the
m.google.com server is only usable by their native web app. You can use
IMAP (a standard e-mail protocol) with a regular e-mail client on your
mobile device (http://www.google.com/mobile/mail/) but you never
mentioned WHAT program you use on your smartphone to connect to
m.google.com.

 

[Tim Mathews]

So do you really run your own MS Exchange e-mail server?

No, just from my mobile devices


then why are you trying to define an

Exchange account at home?

By using Exchange, I can sync contacts and calendars along with my mail;
otherwise, only calendars...at least on my mobile devices.

Gmail doesn't operate or provide an Exchange server.They provide POP,
IMAP, and SMTP mail servers, so that's the type of accounts you have to
define in your local e-mail client.

Maybe it's not but on the devices, on the screen where one makes the
selection of what service--Gmail, Yahoo, AOL etc--one wishes to use, one
of the selections is Microsoft Exchange and although I don't recall
where I learned that the server was m.google.com but that's what makes
it work. From the balance of your comments, I gather it's not actually
Microsoft Exchange but some sort of system Google, Microsoft or someone
else has setup. Until seeing this on my iPhone and iPad, I had always
used IMAP and hated that I could sync mail and calendars but had to
separately do contacts.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

 

[VanguardLH]

No, just from my mobile devices

You don't run servers from mobile devices. You run clients. The
servers are programs running on hosts to which you connect your client.

By using Exchange, I can sync contacts and calendars along with my
mail; otherwise, only calendars...at least on my mobile devices.

So WHOSE Exchange server are you using? It isn't Gmail's.

Google has their Google Sync add-on for Outlook. That does NOT connect
to an Exchange server. That connects to your Gmail account using
commands proprietary to Gmail to sync with your calender, contacts, and
e-mail on your account there.

Outlook add-on that adds Google Sync support:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync

Mobile app for Google Sync support:
http://www.google.com/mobile/sync/

If you want further proof that Google does NOT operate an Exchange
server then read:

https://support.google.com/a/users/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=23333&rd=1

which has a "Compare to Microsoft Exchange" link that goes to:

http://static.googleusercontent.com...art/users/en/glook/google_apps_sync_chart.pdf

You don't compare against something unless your product is NOT that
something. You are using an Outlook *add-on* to sync to your Google
account. You are NOT using the inbuilt Exchange support coded within
Outlook - because Google doesn't operate Exchange servers (well, maybe
they do inside their company for their own e-mail setup but you don't
get to use them).

Similarly, in pre-2010 versions of Outlook, they don't support the
Deltasync protocol for IMAP-like access to a Hotmail account. For that,
you install something in ADDITION to Outlook - an Outlook add-on - which
provides that support (Outlook Connector is the add-on for Deltasync).

Maybe it's not but on the devices, on the screen where one makes the
selection of what service--Gmail, Yahoo, AOL etc--one wishes to use,
one of the selections is Microsoft Exchange and although I don't
recall where I learned that the server was m.google.com but that's
what makes it work.

Outlook is a Microsoft e-mail client. Outlook supports Microsoft's
proprietary Exchange communication protocol. That's why Exchange is
primarily an e-mail config used by corporations: they setup the Exchange
server (for use by their employees) to which Outlook can connect because
Outlook understands the Exchange protocol.

Similarly, Hotmail doesn't support IMAP but instead Microsoft decided to
go with their proprietary Deltasync protocol to give IMAP-like access to
the user's e-mail account (so they could see server-side folders other
than just the Inbox). Some, not all, of Microsoft's e-mail clients
(e.g., Windows Live Mail) support Deltasync. Just because you can
define a Deltasync account within their client doesn't mean every e-mail
service is going to support Deltasync. The only one that I know of is
Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail service. So you use Deltasync in the
Microsoft e-mail client to connect to Microsoft's Hotmail service.

You use Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client to connect to Microsoft's
Exchange server, too. Since you don't have access to an Exchange server
then it really doesn't matter that you can define an Exchange account
within Outlook. You don't have an Exchange server to which you can
connect Outlook.

From the balance of your comments, I gather it's not actually
Microsoft Exchange but some sort of system Google, Microsoft or
someone else has setup. Until seeing this on my iPhone and iPad, I
had always used IMAP and hated that I could sync mail and calendars
but had to separately do contacts.

That you can define a type of e-mail account (POP, IMAP, SMTP,
Deltasync, Exchange, Google Sync, or whatever depending on what support
is embedded within Outlook for what version of it and what add-ons you
have installed to add support for other protocols), you still must have
a *service* that supports that same protocol. Using POP with an IMAP
account won't work. Using Deltasync with a POP account won't work.
Using Exchange with anything not an Exchange server won't work. You can
buy tractor tires but that doesn't mean they'll fit your car. You have
to define something on your end that works with the something on the
other end.

I've mentioned the web app for mobile devices in a prior reply (but that
may only work to sync or access the Gmail e-mail service). The other
choices are to use Google Sync available both as an add-on to Outlook
(which is NOT connecting to an Exchange server) and as a mobile app.

To get out of the loop (if it is still a problem) in Outlook because you
defined an Exchange account that is NOT connecting to an Exchange
server, exit all instances of Outlook and use the Mail applet in Control
Panel to delete that Exchange account. Until then, Outlook figures you
knew what you were doing and is trying to connect to an Exchange server
but the server you specified is not an Exchange server.

 

[VanguardLH]

Google has their Google Sync add-on for Outlook. That does NOT connect
to an Exchange server. That connects to your Gmail account using
commands proprietary to Gmail to sync with your calender, contacts, and
e-mail on your account there.

Outlook add-on that adds Google Sync support:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync

By the way, the Google Sync add-on for Outlook connects using their
protocol to your Google account where you have their Google Apps
service. There are free and paid versions of Google Apps. I don't know
if their Google Sync add-on for Outlook works with free accounts. You
also didn't state if you were using a free or paid Google account.

From what I've read of posts by other Google Apps users, the free
version of Google Apps does not support the Google Sync protocol. If
you upgrade (pay) for the business version of Google Apps then you can
enable Google Sync in your account and use the Google Sync add-on for
Outlook to sync to your business account.

The https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync home page for Google Sync
also states:

System Requirements
Requres Google Apps for Business or Education

So unless you pay, you can't use their sync add-on in Outlook. Since
you never mentioned having a paid Google account, you won't get all of
what you want from Google. Not every service from Google is free.

 

[Tim Mathews]

You don't run servers from mobile devices. You run clients. The
servers are programs running on hosts to which you connect your client.

I don't really know why you're adding this. I never said, nor hinted
that I ran a server. My opening line says I USE the Microsoft Exchange
server etc. I don't have the foggiest clue whether I actually use it or
not. I just know that when given the options to setup mail accounts on
my iPad, iPhone and Android recently, in addition to the usual "Gmail,
Yahoo and Hotmail" selection options, there was the additional
"Microsoft Exchange" listing. Somewhere else it was pointed out that
the advantage to using it for the connection to my Gmail account was
being able to add contacts to the syncing process along with the mail
and calendar. Other than that, I have no idea whether my devices are
running or using clients, servers or any techno babble.

So WHOSE Exchange server are you using? It isn't Gmail's.

Surely it's obvious that I'm not an expert and have very little idea of
most of what you're talking about. As I stated--I thought clearly--I
used an iPhone an iPad and an Android device in each case clicking
"Microsoft Exchange" when setting up the e-mail. This only came about
in the last couple of months as prior to this, the only selections
(choices) were the usual "Google, Yahoo" etc.

I don't really care about anything further as I have no interest in
trying to become an expert in servers and, I guess, what I've learned
is, I DON'T use the Microsoft Exchange server etc. ;-)