We switched ISP's and now having Exchange issues

[trnicho77]

We switched ISPs from SBC/AT&T to a company that is next door to us in the building.  We’re just running a T1 line from his place to ours.

We have a new wireless router – Linksys WRT54G model

If correct password is entered, the first connection takes between 4-10 minutes to connect and update Inbox, but once logged in, it’s fine for the day.  It’s only when Outlook is started that we have the problem.

If incorrect password is entered, it immediately recognizes that it is wrong – so this leads me to believe that the problem is on the Exchange server.  I’m guessing that if it was a problem on our end, the incorrect password would take just as long as the correct one.  Any Ideas?

[unlovedwarrior]

have you tried contacting the support group

[panboy]

Where is the Exchange Server Located, do you run it in the Office yourselves or is it at a remote Location.

If its local , the only Reason i could think of for slow Autentication is if it was Bogged down by a bad Program, Or its Become a Spamming Machine , and has no time for its real Users.

If its at a Remote Local , there are many outher things that could be slowing down the Process

[trnicho77]

They ran some trace routes and stuff and determined it was probably an Exchange Server problem that we’d have to work out.  We are unfortunately not well versed in the area of the exchange server as of yet and not sure what should be checked.

[Raptor]

What's "Exchange"?

[trnicho77]

I guess I'm confused by the last question.  I'm talking about an email server.  The Microsoft Exchange Server.  Am I not specifying something correctly?

[Raptor]

I guess I'm confused by the last question.  I'm talking about an email server.  The Microsoft Exchange Server.  Am I not specifying something correctly?

Not that I know of, I just don't know what exchange is.  

[trnicho77]

That's quite alright Raptor, I was just confused on how to respond to your question for a moment  .

Panboy, to answer your question, the Exchange Server is located at a remote location.

[Rob Pomeroy]

That sounds very much like a problem with the initial authentication with the Exchange server.  The thing most likely to cause this kind of a delay is Active Directory.  LDAP can be painfully slow over wide area networks.

Check the event logs on the Exchange server if possible.  That may provide some clues.

[trnicho77]

Thanks Rob, I'll try your suggestion next.  In case it doesn't help I'm going to provide more information that I should have provided in the beginning.

Our main office and one of our remote offices are located in Milwaukee.  None of the users in these offices are experiencing any problems.  We have a remote office in Kansas City.  The Kansas City office is where we are having the problem.  None of the users in Kansas City have any problems connecting from home, just from the office.  I’ve tried modifying the RPC binding order with no luck.  So you can scratch that one off the list if you come across it.

[trnicho77]

I also should have added, our Exchange Server is located in the main Milwaukee office.

[Rob Pomeroy]

How do the home users connect?  Direct?  And how do the office users connect? Through a firewall?  That would be the difference then, surely?

[trnicho77]

I would say direct in both cases.  They open up Outlook, it asks for a password, and it connects automatically.  They do not have a firewall server or anything at their office.  The “network” is setup just as it is at their homes – ISP connects to router, they connect via wireless router.

The connection is setup to go through a proxy server - the same server our milwaukee remote office goes through.

[Rob Pomeroy]

Okay, so now there's a proxy server in the frame.  You're giving us information by drip!

So now you've got the following to check:

• settings at both routers; any differences?  (especially in their firewalls)
• event logs on Exchange server
• proxy server logs

Next you're going to tell me that the home users are running PCs but the office users are running Macs.

[panboy]

Sorry i dent get back to you, my Posting Regime has been Way y off in the last few Weeks.

But it looks like the Lads managed to Squeeze the Info's out of you, id say rob hit the Nail on the Head there , withe the Proxy Server.

Try Setting up the connection so it doesn't use the Proxy on one PC and see if you still have the same problem.