For fuse.net, zoomtown.com and fioptics.com addresses
Fuse Net Email App and Fuse Net Email Settings for Zoomtown and Altafiber in One Inbox
altafiber makes no mail app, and the My altafiber app only pays the bill. Inboxes opens your fuse.net mailbox over IMAP beside Gmail and work mail, on any computer you sign in from.
IMAP · Normal password · Nothing to install
In short
There is no fuse.net email app. altafiber, the name Cincinnati Bell has done business under since March 2022, offers webmail and the My altafiber app, and that app handles bills and support rather than mail. A fuse.net, zoomtown.com or fioptics.com address is read in webmail or in any mail program over IMAP. The servers follow one pattern: imap, pop or smtp, then your domain, so imap.fuse.net and smtp.fuse.net for fuse.net. The user name is the full address and the password is the one set when the address was activated, with no app password step. altafiber's own guide uses port 143 for IMAP and 587 for sending, both with STARTTLS, and port 993 with SSL also answers. From Europe, in our test, neither webmail nor IMAP answered.
Fuse net email server settings
One pattern for all three altafiber domains
Take the part after the @ in your address and put imap, pop or smtp in front of it. One security certificate covers all nine host names, so a program that complains about a certificate is pointed at the wrong server.
@fuse.net
Cincinnati Bell dial-up and DSL, from the 1990s
- IMAP
- imap.fuse.net
- SMTP
- smtp.fuse.net
- POP
- pop.fuse.net
@zoomtown.com
Zoomtown DSL
- IMAP
- imap.zoomtown.com
- SMTP
- smtp.zoomtown.com
- POP
- pop.zoomtown.com
@fioptics.com
Fioptics fiber
- IMAP
- imap.fioptics.com
- SMTP
- smtp.fioptics.com
- POP
- pop.fioptics.com
Ports. altafiber's Thunderbird guide shows IMAP on 143 and SMTP on 587, both with STARTTLS. Port 993 with SSL answers too, and it is the one to use in a program that asks for SSL rather than STARTTLS.
User name. The whole address, [email protected], for incoming and outgoing. altafiber tells Thunderbird users to correct the auto filled user name to the full address, because the guess leaves it off.
Password. The one created when the address was activated, as normal password authentication. No app password exists. Resets happen at email.altafiber.com, in the Manage My Email portal.
Why the address is still worth keeping
A fuse.net address that has been live for twenty years
Most people who search for a fuse net email app are not new customers. They opened the address with Cincinnati Bell dial-up or Zoomtown DSL, and it is now the login for the bank, the pharmacy, the county property tax portal and every account made since. Moving is a weekend of password resets, so the address stays.
The pain is reading it. Webmail shows one address at a time, the phone was set up years ago with POP by someone who has since moved away, and the work laptop has a different set of mail entirely. That is the job a mail client does, and it is where a fuse.net address sits comfortably next to Gmail.
If the fuse.net address carries a small business too, the rest of this site covers an email client for multiple accounts in more depth.
What we measured
Fuse net email from Virginia and from Warsaw
The same servers, tested within minutes of each other from two locations. This is why a trip abroad breaks a fuse.net address set up on a phone.
Ashburn, Virginia
Answered
- imap.fuse.net on 993: IMAP4 ready, plain login offered
- imap.zoomtown.com on 993: IMAP4 ready
- altafiber.net webmail: sign in page loads
Warsaw, Poland
No answer
- imap.fuse.net on 993: connection never opened
- imap.zoomtown.com on 993: connection never opened
- altafiber.net webmail: redirected to a page at /gdpr
altafiber does not publish a country list, so we cannot say where else it applies. What we can say is that a board connected from the United States keeps reading the mailbox while you are away, because the connection to altafiber is ours and not your hotel's.
Every way to read a fuse.net mailbox
Six routes to fuse net email, compared
The honest differences are where each one runs and whether it holds your other addresses too.
Swipe to see all columns →
| Route to fuse.net email | Runs on | Holds other accounts too | Worked from Europe in our test | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inboxes | Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, in a browser tab | Yes, one merged board | Yes, it connects from the US | 49 dollars a month for five mailboxes, half that billed yearly |
| My altafiber app | iPhone and Android | It reads no mail at all | Not applicable | Included with service |
| altafiber webmail | Any browser | No, one address at a time | No, redirected | Included with service |
| iPhone or Android Mail app | The phone only | Yes | No answer from the server | Included with the phone |
| Thunderbird | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes, through Unified Folders | No answer from the server | Open source, no license fee |
| Classic Outlook | Windows and macOS only | Yes, several accounts in one profile | No answer from the server | Part of a Microsoft 365 subscription |
Server names, ports and the login format come from altafiber's own setup guides for Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird. The My altafiber feature list is from its Google Play listing. The Europe column is our own connection test. At home in the US, Thunderbird or the phone's built in Mail app is an honest, no license fee answer if one combined list on one device is all you need.
When the setup fails
Fuse.net email not working in Outlook or on iPhone
The user name is missing @fuse.net. Auto setup in Thunderbird and several phone apps fills in only the part before the @. altafiber's own guide includes a step just to fix this. The server then refuses a password that is perfectly correct, and people reset it for nothing.
Outlook tried to configure itself. altafiber states that its addresses need manual setup in Outlook. Pick manual, pick IMAP, type both servers, and on the Outgoing Server tab tick that it requires authentication with the same settings as incoming. Skip that tick and mail arrives but never leaves.
The zoomtown.com address pointed at fuse.net servers. It happens when a household with two addresses copies the settings from one to the other. Each domain has its own host names. A zoomtown.com account belongs on imap.zoomtown.com and smtp.zoomtown.com.
The phone set up with POP years ago. POP moves mail off the server, so the phone has messages the laptop never sees. Remove the account and add it again as IMAP. The mail POP already downloaded stays on that phone, so forward anything you need first.
You are traveling. In our test the servers did not answer from Europe. Nothing in the settings fixes that from your device.
Our note on the best email client for fuse.net email picks a program for each of these situations.
Setting it up
Fuse.net email in a desktop app, in three steps
No installer and no altafiber software. The connection lives with us rather than on each device, so every computer you open it on shows the same board.
Step 1
Check the password first
Sign in to altafiber webmail once. If it works there, it works here. If it does not, reset it at email.altafiber.com before anything else.
Step 2
Add fuse.net, then the rest
Enter the full address, imap.fuse.net and the password. Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud and your own domain join the same way, each with its own login.
Step 3
Read it on any computer
Every message gets a category and a spam verdict as it arrives, and the same board opens at home, at work or abroad.
Where a browser client fits
What you get with Inboxes
The job altafiber has no product for, which is holding a fuse.net address and every other mailbox in one list, on any computer.
fuse.net beside everything else
The fuse.net or zoomtown.com address in the same stream as Gmail, Yahoo and your own domain, sorted by arrival with the source account on each row.
Two addresses in one household
Plenty of Cincinnati homes have a fuse.net and a zoomtown.com address from different eras. Both sit on one board with their own servers, so nobody copies the wrong settings again.
One setup, every machine
Outlook and Thunderbird are configured per computer. Here the mailbox is connected once, so the desktop, the laptop and a Chromebook mail app all show the same board.
Replies from the right address
A message sent to your fuse.net address is answered from it. Forwarding into Gmail breaks that unless you also set up Send as, which Google removes for outside addresses in January 2027.
Mail that keeps syncing abroad
The connection to altafiber runs from the US, so the redirect we hit from Europe does not reach the board you read.
Sorting across all of them
An address that has been live since dial-up collects statements, renewal notices and newsletters. A category and a spam verdict land on every message as it arrives.
Where this is the wrong answer
What Inboxes does not do
It does not change altafiber's mailbox. Storage, spam filtering on altafiber's side and the account itself stay with altafiber. A password reset still happens at email.altafiber.com.
It cannot open a closed address. If the fuse.net address no longer signs in to altafiber webmail from the US, it will not sign in here either.
It does not use OAuth anywhere. We connect with a user name and password over IMAP, which suits a fuse.net address well and rules out others. An outlook.com, hotmail.com or Microsoft 365 work address will not connect here. altafiber, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Zoho and own domain mailboxes all do.
No calendar, no contacts, no offline mode, and no permanent tier that costs nothing. It runs in a browser tab, and plans start at 49 dollars a month for five mailboxes. If one combined list on one computer at home is the whole problem, Thunderbird or your phone's Mail app does it with no license fee. The case for paying starts when you read on several machines, travel, or want the volume itself cut down.
FAQ
Questions people ask about the fuse net email app
Is there a fuse net email app?
No. altafiber, the name Cincinnati Bell has done business under since 2022, publishes webmail and the My altafiber app, and My altafiber handles bills, AutoPay, eBill and support chat without opening a mailbox. To read a fuse.net address in an app you add it to a mail program over IMAP, on a phone or a computer.
Is there an altafiber email app?
Not one that reads mail. The My altafiber app on Google Play and the App Store lists bill pay, payment history, AutoPay, eBill, service details, Fioptics TV equipment, a help center, live chat and a message center for notices from altafiber. Your fuse.net, zoomtown.com or fioptics.com mail is read in webmail or in a mail client.
Is there a Zoomtown email app?
No. Zoomtown was Cincinnati Bell's DSL brand, and zoomtown.com addresses now live on the same altafiber mail servers as fuse.net. There is no Zoomtown app for phones or computers. Any IMAP mail app opens the mailbox with imap.zoomtown.com and your full zoomtown.com address as the user name.
What are the fuse net email settings?
Incoming IMAP imap.fuse.net, outgoing SMTP smtp.fuse.net, with the full fuse.net address as the user name and your normal email password. altafiber's Thunderbird guide shows IMAP on port 143 and SMTP on port 587, both with STARTTLS and normal password authentication. We also confirmed that port 993 with SSL answers from the United States.
What are the fuse.net email server settings for IMAP, POP and SMTP?
IMAP is imap.fuse.net, POP is pop.fuse.net and SMTP is smtp.fuse.net. The same pattern covers the other two domains: imap.zoomtown.com and imap.fioptics.com, pop.zoomtown.com and pop.fioptics.com, smtp.zoomtown.com and smtp.fioptics.com. Outgoing mail requires authentication with the same user name and password as incoming.
What are the Zoomtown email settings?
Incoming IMAP imap.zoomtown.com on port 143 with STARTTLS or 993 with SSL, outgoing smtp.zoomtown.com on port 587 with STARTTLS, user name the full zoomtown.com address, password the one set when the address was activated. POP is pop.zoomtown.com if you want mail moved onto one device, which most people who read on a phone should avoid.
How do I add fuse.net email to Outlook?
altafiber says its addresses need a manual setup in Outlook. Choose manual setup, pick IMAP, enter imap.fuse.net as incoming and smtp.fuse.net as outgoing, and use the full address and password to sign in. Under More Settings, on the Outgoing Server tab, tick that the outgoing server requires authentication and use the same settings as incoming.
Why is my fuse.net email not working?
The usual causes are a user name typed without @fuse.net, a program that auto configured the wrong servers, outgoing authentication switched off, or a location outside the United States. altafiber's own Thunderbird guide says to correct the incoming user name to the full address after auto setup, which tells you how often the guess is wrong.
Why is my fuse net email not working on iPhone?
iOS does not know altafiber's servers, so it guesses. Add the account as Other, choose IMAP, and type imap.fuse.net and smtp.fuse.net with the full address as the user name for both. If the phone only offers POP, you get mail on the phone and a gap on the laptop. Abroad, the servers do not answer at all.
Does fuse.net email work outside the United States?
Not from where we tested. From a connection in Warsaw, the altafiber webmail site redirected to a page at /gdpr and imap.fuse.net and imap.zoomtown.com did not answer on port 993. From Virginia, the same servers answered with IMAP4 ready at once. Plan for webmail and phone mail to fail on a European trip.
Do I need an app password for fuse.net email?
No. altafiber's setup guides for Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird all use the email address and the password created when the address was activated, with normal password authentication. If you forgot that password, reset it in the altafiber Manage My Email portal at email.altafiber.com rather than in the mail program.
Is fuse.net email the same as Cincinnati Bell email?
Yes. Cincinnati Bell began doing business as altafiber in March 2022, and the fuse.net, zoomtown.com and fioptics.com addresses it issued kept working under the new name. altafiber's own setup guides still say Cincinnati Bell provided email, so both names point at the same mailbox and the same servers.
Can I read fuse.net email and Gmail in one app?
Yes, in any IMAP client. The fuse.net address connects with its normal password and Gmail with a Google app password, and both land in one list with the source account marked. Nothing is forwarded, so a reply to a message sent to your fuse.net address still leaves from fuse.net.
Related
Keep reading
Keep the fuse.net address and read it anywhere
No altafiber app to hunt for. Add the fuse.net address once with its normal password, then put Gmail, Yahoo and your own domain on the same board.