Problems with Webmail

[#1]

As a (much) brighter note, I've found the email system to be consistently fast and responsive the whole of yesterday up to midnight and still this morning. I use IMAP so no idea how Webmail is doing, but I've always used a client anyway. Still very quick this morning so I hope that's the end of the problems for now at least.

thanks to everyone who helped fix things.

[#2]

@quelquod Thanks for letting us know that your service has improved, it's still not a the level we want it to be at yet and we're aware some people are still having issues with Webmail and our engineers will continue to look to improve things.

[#3]

@neilhobbs, you are the first and only person I've seen reporting cert revocation problems. Can you please screen grab this the next time it happens? Can I also ask what browser you're using and whether or not you've tried an alternative?

I'm also not clear what exactly is happening at midday when things 'go offline' for you? Apologies if you've already explained this but can you provide specifics?

Engineers have been working round the clock over the last week or so, and load etc. is hugely reduced. There's a definite. improvement for many (the volume of customers contacting our help desk is testament to that). What we do need to dig into further are the continued reports of server errors etc. because that shouldn't be happening. It isn't happening across the majority of our test accounts.

[#4]

For people with initial slow load of the mailbox if you go to "personal settings" and "User interface" if you have the Rows per page set to 40 or so it loads quicker than if you have it set to 1000

Also if you have lots of mail then putting into folders really helps imap as its not trying to retrieve everything all at once too.

No the end state of course, but for people on here running businesses or struggling to get by it might help getting you in to email still etc.

[#5]

@bobpullen  Hi Bob,  How are you?  I trust that you're well.

I'm glad that you've seen my posting, as I've hoping you would - as I know that you'll look into it properly.  As I've been mentioning it all week, but no one has acknowledged it or done anything with it.

I am currently sat in a BT office, with a stable network connection to the Internet and I remain on the network all day.  I have been finding that the Webmail service is generally very much and down in terms of access throughout the day, however from about midday things get very unstable and everything grinds to a halt.

The certificate error that I am persistently getting is in the attached JPEG file.

I'm afraid that I'm not seeing an improvement in the service, as its consistently unusable for me.  I have been finding this behaviour whether I am sat in the BT office using their Internet connection, at the hotel on their network or at home connecting through Sky.

I realise that you need to look into this, but I'm not getting ay information from the guys that I have been speaking to until you have seen my posting.

As I say at the moment, from the time I got into the office at 8:30am until the current time - I am really struggling to access my mail due to the certificate issue, general very slow and e-mails not being sent.

Are you able to let me know what is happening and what you are seeing?

Many thanks in advance,

Neil

Edit:  I can let you know that the certificate issue happens in IE 11 on Windows 7, Edge and Chrome (latest versions) on Windows 10...  So its a consistent issue across all of the machines that I use

[#6]

I'm suffering like most of other posts.  The server error I'm getting is  "HTTP 2.0, 500" which eventually upgrades to "server unavailable".  Hope this adds to the problem solving mix.

[#7]

@neilhobbs - This link might shed some light on the issue are seeing regarding the revocation.

[#8]

That doesn't apply to my issue...  the '*.plus.net' certificate is issued by the well known 'Go Daddy Class 2 Certification Authority' Root Certification Authority and when the Webmail service is functional, I can see that the certificate trust path is good.  But when the Webmail service is none functional, the trust path is not valid.

There is no need to install this certificate in my local Certificate Store on the computers that I use.  I design PKI platforms for large enterprise customers...  so I know how it should work

[#9]

From the link :

It can also mean that the security certificate is valid but the CRL distribution point is unavailable.

Would this not be the case when the webmail service is unavailable, hence the appearance of the popup.

[#10]

Still getting server error during the daytime and evening but it works fine late night or very early morning.

More work needed please plusnet !!

[#11]

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@Anonymous wrote:

From the link :

It can also mean that the security certificate is valid but the CRL distribution point is unavailable.

Would this not be the case when the webmail service is unavailable, hence the appearance of the popup.

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Which means that it is the mail servers behind the Webmail service is unable to fulfil the request from the web browser to perform the revocation checks...  they are maxing out...  this needs to be resolved...

[#12]

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@fatboy1969 wrote:

Still getting server error during the daytime and evening but it works fine late night or very early morning.

More work needed please plusnet !!

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Its a persistent error for me as well, however yesterday (Wednesday, the 7th of December) morning until 12pm was fine.  Its just been ridiculously slow since I got into the office today...

I'm guessing that this a mail cluster of some description?  I don't know the architecture of the Webmail service, but if its a cluster - it will be very easy for the engineers to build another node or two and add it to the cluster or the web servers...  that will enable the cluster to manage more load and the performance should improve, while they are investigating things... 

[#13]

Like Fatboy1969, I've found some limited use of email is possible late evening or early morning...so I've been attempting to send essential emails after 11pm or between 6 and 7 am. Doesn't guarantee problem-free use but it's possible usually to send a few essential emails...only a few, though, because it still takes several tries and everything is so slow to load.

I don't understand the technical aspects of all this but it does seem absurd that this has gone on so long and I am reduced to using email this way.

I do appreciate those of you who have have been trying to help to the extent that you can by posting here but that is clearly limited for all sorts of reasons, I imagine.

Although I don't know about the technical aspect of things, I do know a bit about business and a lot about communication and organisational dynamics. As I said in an earlier posting, business and communication 101 tells you that keeping customers in the loop is worth the investment...the costs of not doing that could be high in terms of lost business and impact on Plusnet's previously decent reputation.

Even if there isn't anything much new to tell us - then tell us that - just talking to customers will assure us that you know we're still out here putting up with this and that you accord us that basic respect as customers until such times as you are able to rectify these frustratingly long-standing problems.

Mrob

[#14]

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@neilhobbs wrote:

@bobpullen  Hi Bob,  How are you?  I trust that you're well.

Busy, but well thanks 

The certificate error that I am persistently getting is in the attached JPEG file.

Thanks. Whilst I suspect I know what it'll say, can you post the detail when viewing the cert from that pop-up dialogue? What's confusing me a tad, is why others aren't seeing these cert errors, even when the HTTP 500 errors are taken into account. Perhaps you're browser security settings are set to something other than their defaults

Don't suppose you're able to PM me the email address it is you're trying to access?

I realise that you need to look into this, but I'm not getting ay information from the guys that I have been speaking to until you have seen my posting.

Apologies for the frustration. As mentioned, there's a shed-load of resource invested into the problem at the moment. I'm not particularly comfortable going into the specifics though (sorry!). One thing I'm not convinced about is that enough attention is being given to the server errors (rather performance as a whole) so I'll try and get a little more focus on that aspect of the problem.

As I say at the moment, from the time I got into the office at 8:30am until the current time - I am really struggling to access my mail due to the certificate issue, general very slow and e-mails not being sent.

Are you able to let me know what is happening and what you are seeing?

I've personally been keeping tabs on seven test accounts, each containing ~1,500 messages. At the time of writing, the Plusnet accounts log in etc. within seconds. I'm hitting service unavailable errors with a couple of the other brand accounts I have though. No cert errors though (latest test using Edge on a Win 10 machine connected to a Plusnet FTTC circuit).

[#15]

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@bobpullen wrote:

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@neilhobbs wrote:

@bobpullen  Hi Bob,  How are you?  I trust that you're well.

Busy, but well thanks 

Good to hear

The certificate error that I am persistently getting is in the attached JPEG file.

Thanks. Whilst I suspect I know what it'll say, can you post the detail when viewing the cert from that pop-up dialogue? What's confusing me a tad, is why others aren't seeing these cert errors, even when the HTTP 500 errors are taken into account. Perhaps you're browser security settings are set to something other than their defaults

Don't suppose you're able to PM me the email address it is you're trying to access?

Not a problem.  The next time the revocation prompt appears, I will click on 'View Certificate' and take some screenshots and let you see what I'm seeing.

I've just PM'd you the e-mail address that I'm using on the system.

I realise that you need to look into this, but I'm not getting ay information from the guys that I have been speaking to until you have seen my posting.

Apologies for the frustration. As mentioned, there's a shed-load of resource invested into the problem at the moment. I'm not particularly comfortable going into the specifics though (sorry!). One thing I'm not convinced about is that enough attention is being given to the server errors (rather performance as a whole) so I'll try and get a little more focus on that aspect of the problem.

I know that you're looking into this, most of my frustration is because all of the PlusNet guys I've spoken to until you responded have been unwilling to provide any updates and progress on what is happening, it only causes users to get frustrated...

As I say at the moment, from the time I got into the office at 8:30am until the current time - I am really struggling to access my mail due to the certificate issue, general very slow and e-mails not being sent.

Are you able to let me know what is happening and what you are seeing?

I've personally been keeping tabs on seven test accounts, each containing ~1,500 messages. At the time of writing, the Plusnet accounts log in etc. within seconds. I'm hitting service unavailable errors with a couple of the other brand accounts I have though. No cert errors though (latest test using Edge on a Win 10 machine connected to a Plusnet FTTC circuit).

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 Let me know if you need anything more...