topic Re: send mail timing out in Email

send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 12:54:09 GMT

I use Thunderbird and recently started to get the following message and I can't send mail, quite often have to retry quite a few times

"Sending of the message failed.
The message could not be sent because the connection to Outgoing server (SMTP) ns.01383.uk timed out. Try again."

I think there is an issue with sending through my broadband with plus.net and I think it's related to sending to outgoing smtp server on port 587 ?

I saw on anothe rpost about a timeout but not sure if that will help ? (and not sure what timeout value to change)

I can send an email immediately when connected to my phone or directly from webmail, The server ns.01383.uk is up and running. This is actually one of my servers so I know it is up and running

thanks Brian

Re: send mail timing out

Dan_the_Van — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 14:32:36 GMT

Hi @duncanbbd

The timeouts could be caused by slow uplink speed?

I can telnet ns.01383.uk on port 587

C:\> telnet ns.01383.uk 587 (telnet on win 10 desktop is not enabled by default)

I get reply 220 ns.01383.uk ESMTP Postfix

a google search give this answer:- to find Options click on the three bars top right corner

How to Prevent Server Timeout Errors in Thunderbird

1. Open The Thunderbird Client
2. Go to Tools; Options; Advanced; General; Config Editor.
3. In filter field type in “mailnews.tcptimeout”.
4. Right click and select Modify.
5. Change the value to a higher number; example 1000 or 2000.

If you still receiving the connection timeout error, then there must be something wrong with your internet connection your computer, or our servers.

See https://www.convertmbox2pst.com/blog/smtp-server-timed-out-in-thunderbird/ for more details

Hope it solves the issue

Dan.

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 14:46:26 GMT

thanks for that will check that value a bit later and give it a go.

I uploaded a 1.4GB file earlier without issue.

you found some good info on these links

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 10:32:46 GMT

I changed the value to 5000

still timing out.

note I do setup of clients with mail and supposedly know what is needed (e.g starttls, 587, password) etc ;o)

this happens to me on Android phone GMail, I can't send email. I have to turn off wifi on phone to get email to send.

I do disagree with the link you gave that Outlook is better than thunderbird (I know it's not your opinion). I'd say Thunderbird is better than outlook ;o)

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 10:36:50 GMT

speedtest inf

ping: 21ms

download : 52.33 Mbps

upload : 17:20 Mbps

Re: send mail timing out

Dan_the_Van — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:25:36 GMT

That's disappointing it didn't resolve your issue 😑

Are you able to do a telnet test from a pc to the mail server ns.01383.uk, this would prove connectivity from your network!

Maybe further research is required on this issue.

Dan

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:40:44 GMT

cheers Dan.

connectivity is fine. I can use webmail on that server to send without any problems. I can access other functions without any issue (e.g SSH and FTP)

will dig about and see what else I can find

thanks again

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:47:14 GMT

i tried to send an email again just now.

same timeout message.

i quickly changed to hotspot on my Android phone and it sent first time.

Re: send mail timing out

adam945 — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 15:35:49 GMT

Hello @duncanbbd

Sorry to hear that you're having issues with the SMTP server. Ae you able to try setting your account up via port 25?

I've seen a couple of comments about an SMTP time out issue today so there might be a wider issue going on.

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 15:38:51 GMT

Hi Adam,

no, I am not wanting to use Port 25 due to lack of security.

I'll persevere with it at my end.

sometimes it works and others it doesn't. I just go online with webmail if I have something urgent to send.

thanks for keeping me posted. let me know if I can help test anything.

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 16:11:32 GMT

I'm sure that having a fixed IP address isn't the cause of the issue ?

but let me know if you need it for a test.

I tried to send an email earlier, didnt' work. tried again just now and it worked fine.

Re: send mail timing out

Gandalf — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 07:26:54 GMT

Thanks for getting back to us @duncanbbd

Can you private message me screenshots of the settings you're using in Thunderbird to send mail?

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 09:17:40 GMT

I will do that shorlty.

maybe a dumb question 🐵

but would one of your server passthrough use an old Lets Encrypt SSL certificate (or the bit that manages it)

my remote mail servers uses Lets Encrypt SSL.

Re: send mail timing out

Gandalf — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 10:29:54 GMT

Thanks for getting back to me @duncanbbd

Not as far as I'm aware but try sending mail using our outgoing mail server not through your remote server.

~~If you're using smtpmail.globalnet.co.uk this doesn't support SSL or STARTTLS but to send mail securely with this, you can use relay.plus.net and the settings explained Here.~~

Let me know how it goes

[edit]

No idea where I got the idea from you had a Globalnet account. Sorry, ignore that ^

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 17:21:11 GMT

just a quick follow up.

not seen any problems in the last 2-3 weeks, mail has been getting sent immediately.

so whatever the issue was seems to have gone

cheers

Re: send mail timing out

Gandalf — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 08:22:58 GMT

Cheers for the update, I'm glad to see your email's working OK now ‌‌

Let us know if there are further issues or anything else you'd need help with.

Re: send mail timing out

Townman — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 09:38:57 GMT

Out of curiosity who is 01383.uk ?

Nominet reports the registrar as Software Foundation Limited

This does not seem to be a Plusnet provided service.

There is an email provider at 01383.co.uk (Webmail) ... but there is nothing else in Google search results for this domain.

Re: send mail timing out

duncanbbd — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 09:58:06 GMT

the issue isn't sending mail to plus.net mail servers, it was sending mail outwith plus.net somthing in the plus.net network was causing an isue with the connectivity to port 587/25. sometimes it worked and sometimes it dind't.

in this case to a mail server at '01383.uk'

(which is my mail server)

01383 is the phone code for Dunfermline 🐵