For the last couple of months, I've been having problems sending and retrieving e-mail via Outlook Express. I'm sometimes unable to connect to the server even though I can browse the Internet when this is happening. There’s no pattern I can figure out. All might work fine. Or the system might hang for 10-30 seconds before successfully sending/receiving. Or it might hang so long that it times out.
Because the trouble is intermittent, I know the e-mail account property settings within OE aren't the problem. Because it happens with two different e-mail accounts, I assume the problem isn't with the hosts – or with the ports. (Because it happens with two e-mail accounts and incoming + outgoing messages, three different ports are involved -- 8889, 110, & 587 –and I have periodic trouble connecting to all of them.)
This problem seems to have started right around the time that I switched from Verizon DSL to Verizon FiOS and received a new router: ActionTec MI424-WR - Rev. E. I persuaded Verizon to swap routers in case the unit was defective, but that didn't help. Otherwise, Verizon tech support claims the problem must be with OE or XP – and, in any case, as long as I’m connecting to the Internet they can’t help.
Any thoughts?
