I have the same problem I followed the instructions above.
https://ibb.co/vDR8zF8
After I try to enter my SMTP details into the plug in I get the same error:
WP SMTP connection error
Seems like there are some problems with the enterd information. Please re-check & re-enter it and hit the “Save changes” button.
We recently made some changes regarding how we save the username and password in the database, namely we are encrypting them, so that might be the reason for the connection error. Re-entering and saving them should solve the issue.
When I revisit wp-admin/options.php smtp_status shows “not_encrypted”
