![Citadel.org](https://citadel.org/citadel2018.png)
Use Thunderbird® for your meshmail.
The KA4EMA MeshMail server is a Citadel based package. Citadel has been around since the early days of email, orums and the like, and is loaded with useful features. However, most of us will find it somewhat different than our modern email interfaces, even to the point of having a fairly steep learning curve. But never fear, there is a better plan!.
Email clients such as Thunderbird, better fit our expectations, are easier to use, and will work quite well with Citadel. Download Thunderbird and configure it with your MeshMail address, password and server address. Be sure to include the local.mesh iin the server name. That is ka4ema-meshmail-cha.local.mesh. Your emails, calendar, chat, etc will load to Thunderbird whithin a few seconds.
I hope this tip makes Mesh mail a bit easier.
![Thunderbird email](https://www.thunderbird.net/media/img/thunderbird/new/screens/115-calendar.avif)
Trouble with browsing the mesh? DNS Issues?
You may improve browsing the mesh network by making a configuration change to your network connections on your computer. Sometimes you can set the DNS settings for each network card (wifi or ethernet) separately . Often our default DNS will be your a site provided by your internet servcie provider, or Google (.8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4). These know nothing about the mesh network and cannot resolve any sites on the mesh. If your DNS does not automatically change to your mesh node IP address, or ” local.mesh” Try changing this connection to a Manual DNS setting and chose one of those above. Be sure that you leave your usual settings for the Internet unchanged or your issues will move from the mesh network to the Internet. If you can’s or don’t want to risk making these changes, always connect your devices to the mesh network using ethernet cables. Make sure your mesh node has DNS enabled on the basic settings page.
Another tip is that you should leave your mesh node connected to the mesh network full time. Since there is no single dedicated DNS servers, each mesh node has to advertise its resources and collect data from other advertized nodes. This taks a while.