IMAP + Outlook 2007 + Random Offline
osaddict
London, UK
We have just switched mail servers, and switched from POP3 to IMAP - on the whole this is great, and we are reaping the benefits, however, there a couple of drawbacks...
Perhaps those who have been using IMAP for a while (with or without outlook) can advise me...
1. Some users get the outlook popup 'you are working offline' occasionally - my method of fixing this is to select 'work offline' from the file menu, then select it again, then hit send and receive and the 'X Offline' from the bottom right disappears - Why does this happen, and is there a way to stop it from happening? (Or is it just as the client has lost the connection to the IMAP server?)
2. Large attachments (2-3mb pdf's for example) tend to bring outlook to a standstill for about 5-10mins, and take considerably longer to arrive than a straight forward e-mail (think 1hr vs 3 seconds)
Any help greatly appreciated - I'm totally new to IMAP so hopefully these are simple teething problems which can be easily solved
Perhaps those who have been using IMAP for a while (with or without outlook) can advise me...
1. Some users get the outlook popup 'you are working offline' occasionally - my method of fixing this is to select 'work offline' from the file menu, then select it again, then hit send and receive and the 'X Offline' from the bottom right disappears - Why does this happen, and is there a way to stop it from happening? (Or is it just as the client has lost the connection to the IMAP server?)
2. Large attachments (2-3mb pdf's for example) tend to bring outlook to a standstill for about 5-10mins, and take considerably longer to arrive than a straight forward e-mail (think 1hr vs 3 seconds)
Any help greatly appreciated - I'm totally new to IMAP so hopefully these are simple teething problems which can be easily solved
0
Comments
What server are you using? qmail? exchange? something else?
Other than that, it may be a connectivity issue or lag issue on your end. If you're in the UK and Rackspace is in Texas, USA, you could be experiencing dropped packets across the multiple links to the server. With pop you never notice because it doesn't require a "solid connection" (I'm simplifying here; cue the snarky technical answer people in 3...2....), whereas with IMAP you'll notice dropped packets.
Do a ping test to your mail server: ping -t yourmailserver.whatever and let it run for 5 minutes. See if you are dropping packets.
They leave the admin up to us in terms of you can add and delete users / alias addresses / forwarding / select imap or pop / customise messages sent to users when their inbox is x full etc - so we can change most stuff really.
The logic of noticing the dropped packets makes sense with IMAP, I just did that ping you suggested for around 5 mins -
Packets: Sent = 291, Received = 280, Lost = 11 (3% loss)
On a slight side issue - any ideas why outlook would randomly decide to put a message you sent in to the sent items folder on the personal folders tree - rather than the one on the IMAP tree? (which you HAD specified in the properties of the account, and which 90% of messages sent went in to!)
3% packet loss is what's causing your problem. I'd talk to your ISP to see if there's anything they can do about it, or if that falls within acceptable standards across the ocean. The problem is really one of geography - your mail server is half a world away.
My guess is that there's still an old pop account in the profile that's using the personal folder, and they replied to an old message that was originally sent to/from their pop account.
If there's multiple accounts there's also a way of selecting the alternate accounts when sending. Be sure they're not doing this.