Unable to reach POP server

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From: Bryan Linton (blinton_at_nospam.connellinsurance.com)
Date: 09/07/04 

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 20:59:21 -0500

My boss has been having trouble checking email while out of the office.
We're not yet running exchange (migration is about 1 month away), so our
clients currently POP their mailbox using the Outlook 2000 client with the
all the latest Office 2000 patches. Internally, it works fine. Externally,
we have troubles. Here's some background:

I inherited this network 3 months ago when I took over as IT manager. The
previous admin had set up an Outlook profile for use when connected in the
office that used the internal LAN IP of the mail server, and a totally
separate Outlook profile for use when out of the office that used our
registered MX record (mail.companyname.com). Until recently we weren't
running DNS within our network. Now that we are, I decided not long ago to
create internal DNS records for our mail server with the same name we use
externally (mail.companyname.com). After some initial hiccups, it worked
fine. I've been sending and receiving mail from my work desktop using our
DNS name for 6 weeks now. I have also successfully set up Outlook Express
at home to POP my mailbox on the mail server thru our SonicWall firewall
(although I finally disabled that account a while back because I never used
work email at home).

So far, so good. I recently configured my boss to use the DNS name of our
mail server instead of the internal IP. It works internally. But when my
boss takes his laptop out of the office and tries to check via any available
internet connection, Outlook says the mail server cannot be reached, and
pops up the box to verify/change the POPs server name/IP. I've been with
him when it happens, and here's the wild part: if I ping our mail server's
registered DNS name (mail.companyname.com), it promptly, correctly resolves
the name to our external IP, and successfully pings it. But I still can't
connect.

I've done ipconfig /flushdns, and still had the problem. He's normally
booting fresh, logging onto his domain account using cached credentials,
connecting to the internet, and launching Outlook. Our firewall is (as far
as I can determine) correctly set to forward all WAN traffic on port 110 to
the internal IP of our mail server (TCP only).

I'm running out of places to look, and my boss is running out of patience.
I finally presumed that his installation of Windows 2000 and Outlook were
just old and messed up (2-3 years old, as far as I can determine), so I did
a fresh, clean install of XP Pro today. The only things that haven't
changed are his domain user account, and his PST file. Still having the
same problem.

Sorry for the long post...any takers?

Thanks in advance,

Bryan

p.s. -- Since my Outlook Express at home seemed to have no trouble, I will
set up Outlook 2000 with my work POP account and do further testing, then
post the results here.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How to control mail flow internally?
    ... mail flow so that certain staff can only send mail to coworkers in their own ... managing the mail sent internally on our mail server. ... Unless your users are banned Internet access ... I'm willing to bet that this is a "My boss told me to" request ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange2000.general)
  • Re: Unable to reach POP server
    ... While out on the internet do the following from command line: ... You should get something like "+OK InterMail POP3 server ... > clients currently POP their mailbox using the Outlook 2000 client with the ... > create internal DNS records for our mail server with the same name we use ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)
  • Re: If I upgrade to IE 7, does that affect my OE 6?
    ... How do I know if I'm dealing with such a mail server? ... Authentication fails when you use Outlook or Outlook Express to try to ... on to a HTTP-based mail server if you use Internet ... Explorer version 7.0 ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Unable to reach POP server
    ... between our machines is that mine still uses a static IP on our LAN, ... instructed him always to connect to the internet *and* establish the VPN ... connection before he launches Outlook. ... >> office that used the internal LAN IP of the mail server, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)
  • Socket Error: 10061
    ... I am running Windows XP Home Edition with Outlook Express 6. ... connect to the same mail server have no problems at all. ... Norton's Internet security I assume. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)