Is email down again?

[Dopamine]

Is there a new problem with email?

Email sent to my idnet.com addresses from anything other than idnet.com accounts is not arriving, or is delayed by at least 45 minutes. I know of several emails that have been sent to me from ebay, hotmail and other domains in the last hour, and none has arrived. A test email sent from one idnet.com account to another arrived almost instantly.

[LesD]

I have just tried sending an email from my tiscali webmail account to my idnet.com address at 9:22 and its 9:35 with no sign of it yet!

I tried another from my virgin.net webmail account at 9:30 and it is only 9:35 now but neither have arrived. I guess time will tell! 

I have no problem accessing the idnet pop server so it is dfficult to say just where the delay is.

[scook94]

I can ping the server okay, so I doubt it's down completely...

[Sebby]

Yep, it looks like something's up again as I just sent myself a test message, which hasn't arrived. Yesterday, it was virtually instant.

[LesD]

I can ping the server okay, so I doubt it's down completely...

Yes agreed it's authenticating me OK when I click Send/Recv in Outlook Express.
but it's 9:50 now and neither of my two test messages have arrived! 

[Simon]

I've put a call in, so we'll see what happens.  It could be that they are doing some maintenance at this moment, as there is still a spasmodic forwarding problem.

[LesD]

I've put a call in, so we'll see what happens.  It could be that they are doing some maintenance at this moment, as there is still a spasmodic forwarding problem.

I think your name sake may already know he took a look a the boards round 9:30-ish and then went again and this thread was up there then.

[Simon]

Well, it doesn't hurt to leave a message.  Hopefully they'll let us know what's happening. 

[LesD]

Well, it doesn't hurt to leave a message.  Hopefully they'll let us know what's happening. 

Quite agreed certainly doesn't. 

[Ted]

just sent one from the domain to idnet.com, got there instantly.

[Sebby]

Strange, mine still hasn't come through (nearly 15 minutes).

[LesD]

just sent one from the domain to idnet.com, got there instantly.

It seems to be slow from outside IDNet Ted.
10:05 now and no sign of test messages sent at 9:22 and 9:30 from external webmail clients.

[Ted]

just sent another one, nothing. Seems hit and miss!

[Simon]

Just heard back from Simon, and he says everything looks fine, but he's going to have a dig about.

[Sebby]

Make sure he doesn't run a disk check.

[LesD]

Make sure he doesn't run a disk check.

That got to be at least 500 kbps off your IP Profile! 

[Ted]

Make sure he doesn't run a disk check.

[Simon]

  I doubt he'd fall into that hole again! 

[Ray]

Make sure he doesn't run a disk check.

[Sebby]

That got to be at least 500 kbps off your IP Profile! 

Didn't think of that...

[LesD]

DNS and their caches aging out come to mind with a new machine and very likely a new MAC address but my techie friend at work knows all about these things and I am just an eaves-dropper on such matters.
I bet IDNet are well up to speed on such things though.

it will all be OK in the morning!

[Ted]

Les You're train has stopped running, does it need more diesel?

[LesD]

Les You're train has stopped running, does it need more diesel?

Perhaps it stops at my Ted.

[Ted]

Perhaps its a mail train

[LesD]

Perhaps its a mail train

Now there's a thought! 

It's now 10:30 getting past my     and still my test messages have not arrived that's over and hour.

Now that is slow and really does suggest that something is up to me. 

[BrianM]

Sent myself a test message at 2200 and it's not arrived yet. 

[Bill]

My .com seems to be dead for incoming too.

[Lance]

Hopefully we will here something from Simon D soon. In the meantime, maybe we should all stop sending test messages!

[psp83]

Just sent 2 test emails.

One going through a american server and one through a uk server, none has arrived yet.

So something is up.

[BrianM]

Ok,I'll leave things alone, see what tomorrow brings 

[psp83]

Whats the new server name? slacker ?

[Lance]

Might be appropriate!

[Sebby]

Whats the new server name? slacker ?

I believe it's named Undeliverable.

[Simon]

Seeing as we can log in, and can receive mail sent from within the IDNet domain, I suppose it's logical to assume something's blocking mail from outside the domain.  As Les said, something to do with DNS sounds likely, but that's just a stab in the dark.  Hopefully it will be something simple that can be sorted in the morning. 

[LesD]

I have just tried sending an email from my tiscali webmail account to my idnet.com address at 9:22 and its 9:35 with no sign of it yet!

I tried another from my virgin.net webmail account at 9:30 and it is only 9:35 now but neither have arrived. I guess time will tell! 

I have no problem accessing the idnet pop server so it is dfficult to say just where the delay is.

I have received both test messages this morning that were sent last evening:
The one sent from Tiscali arrived at 05:28 AM
The one sent from Virgin arrived at 01:29 AM

Slow but sure!  (Maybe!)

[Simon]

I've received my test messages this morning too.

[Rik]

Apparently, an external mail server was causing problems, which then caused delays on mail at idnet.com. It's been resolved this morning.

[vitriol]

apparently so Rik,

sent test mail at 9:42 this morning from my work account and it arrived in my idnet mail box at 09:44

[Dopamine]

Is the email problem completely fixed?

Still having problems here. Any emails from hotmail to my idnet.com addresses are not arriving, most emails from other domains to idnet.com are delayed by at least an hour. Those same emails, some of which I've requested the senders to copy to both my private domain and idnet.com, are arriving instantly at the private domain.

I've given IDNet time to sort this problem, and the benefit of the doubt, but there still appears to be no fix, and worse, IDNet still are not keeping us informed.

[LesD]

Is the email problem completely fixed?

Still having problems here. Any emails from hotmail to my idnet.com addresses are not arriving, most emails from other domains to idnet.com are delayed by at least an hour. Those same emails, some of which I've requested the senders to copy to both my private domain and idnet.com, are arriving instantly at the private domain.

I've given IDNet time to sort this problem, and the benefit of the doubt, but there still appears to be no fix, and worse, IDNet still are not keeping us informed.

From my virgin.net webmail client I have just sent a test message to my idnet.com address with CC's to my tiscali.co.uk and virgin.net email addresses both of which have there POP servers set up in my Outlook Express client along with idnet. This was at 9:35 PM

All three had arrived by 9:40 PM virgin first then tiscali followed a minute or so later by the one to idnet but they all show Received at 21:35 in OE.

So all's well here. 

[Simon]

Is the email problem completely fixed?

Still having problems here. Any emails from hotmail to my idnet.com addresses are not arriving, most emails from other domains to idnet.com are delayed by at least an hour. Those same emails, some of which I've requested the senders to copy to both my private domain and idnet.com, are arriving instantly at the private domain.

I've given IDNet time to sort this problem, and the benefit of the doubt, but there still appears to be no fix, and worse, IDNet still are not keeping us informed.

As I understand it, the email service to idnet.com addresses is still "sub-optimal", but functional.  They are using a temporary, less powerful server, which may account for some of the delays, and they are still waiting for Trevor to finish the file check, so that they can recover the data from it.  Forwarding, webspace and blogs seem to be working for most.  That's about all we know at the moment.  It was a HUGE disaster, and IDNet have admitted their failings.  We are assured that they are doing all they can to get the services back up to 100%.

[Dopamine]

Thanks.

Still not received any from hotmail to idnet.com, but others are coming in sporadically. The longest delays appear to be for those messages which come from uncommon or private domains.

Fortunately I have other email addresses so am now in the process of changing a multitude of financial institutions, forums etc away from IDNet. Given that I joined IDNet because the monthly fee included email, this is disappointing, but the email service just isn't reliable enough for me.

It's a shame, but I no longer feel able to recommend IDNet to others. Pleasant customer service, good speeds, but a weak email service lets it down. Perhaps they should consider selling their packages as connection only, with email as a chargeable option, rather like BE does.

[LesD]

We are assured that they are doing all they can to get the services back up to 100%.

Sounds good to me Simon! 

I shall sleep tight in the knowledge that the world in not about to stop because everything in not quite 100% but what is there that ever is?! 

[Simon]

Perhaps they should consider selling their packages as connection only, with email as a chargeable option, rather like BE does.

There is, of course, a chargeable option, in the idnet.co.uk email addresses @ £4 per month, which were not affected by the recent problems as they are on a different server, but I fully agree, the inclusive email provision should be up to scratch, clearly hasn't been, and this is one of the things IDNet have said they will improve on. 

[chrisga]

I fully agree, the inclusive email provision should be up to scratch, clearly hasn't been, and this is one of the things IDNet have said they will improve on.  Smiley

Yep, if it's there and part of a premium package,  it should work  in a premium way  IMHO.  I'm not going to "rant and rave" further about email issues though.   It's all still part of the original problem, that we all know was  a very poor scene - which nobody from IDNET is denying !

I'm looking to the future and I  trust won't regret  my decision  to stay  with IDNet.   

[Simon]

Looking to the future is a brilliant idea, Chris! 

[Gary]

I purchased a hosted domain with IDNet today, more expensive than most but I trust the team to sort issues out, I'm keeping my idnet.com addresses as well but the extras with the premium package are good

[psp83]

For all the people still moaning and giving IDnet a hard time.. Give them a break and a chance to fix the problem fully, They admitted that they screwed up and are now fixing it. It takes time you know.

Oh and if email is that important and your life depends on it. eg, for work.. then why use a free service for this? pay for your own domain etc. It looks better for you anyways if you do.

Yes i've read people saying email is in the monthly cost.. But just think. Last year idnet.com mail wasn't included. Its only recently been added at no extra cost to packages, same as webspace and blogs. When i joined, these options wasn't included. Only the ugly idnetfreemail.co.uk or something like that.

Flame away 

[Simon]

Good points about the additional services, Paul.  I think it's sometimes forgotten that IDNet have listened to customers in the past, and have made extra provisions at no extra cost.  Email problems aside, the service is still second to none, and I wonder if many other ISPs would have been so open and honest about their mistakes.

[john]

I've just sent a message to my idnet account from my hotmail one and it arrived almost immediatley. Whatever problems there has been now seems to have been resolved. Thanks to all concerned.

[Dopamine]

For all the people still moaning and giving IDnet a hard time.. Give them a break and a chance to fix the problem fully, They admitted that they screwed up and are now fixing it. It takes time you know.

Oh and if email is that important and your life depends on it. eg, for work.. then why use a free service for this? pay for your own domain etc. It looks better for you anyways if you do.

Yes i've read people saying email is in the monthly cost.. But just think. Last year idnet.com mail wasn't included. Its only recently been added at no extra cost to packages, same as webspace and blogs. When i joined, these options wasn't included. Only the ugly idnetfreemail.co.uk or something like that.

Flame away 

What would be the point in flaming? They'll be enough people reading this who think you're wrong without the need for any of them to flame.

As I've said before, there will always be those who accept poor service without complaint, and you appear to fall in to that category, but what you need to remember is that you will ultimately benefit from an improved service brought about because some of us are prepared to complain when it's justified. This isn't the first, or indeed the second, time there have been problems with email. If it were, I suspect the complaints would have been fewer and less harsh.

And who cares what was included a year ago? Cars didn't used to come routinely fitted with electric windows. Next time yours fails, I hope you'll accept it as a free gift and not an integral part of the car. Would hate to think you'd moan about anything failing.

[Simon]

Let's not get personal, please.  Of course people have a right to complain, and I was one of them, but since Simon's apology, and their efforts to put things right, I do think IDNet have gone some way to redeeming themselves, and it would be more positive to now be looking forward to an improved service. 

[Sebby]

Things still aren't perfect, and I believe there might be something outside of IDNet's control slowing things down (as we saw last night), but we're getting there.

[Gary]

Things still aren't perfect, and I believe there might be something outside of IDNet's control slowing things down (as we saw last night), but we're getting there.

and if you want you can always get a domain, but idnet unlike most ISP's will fix the issue rather than sweep it under the table

[Lance]

And indeed will actually admit there is a issue in the first place, rather than carry on regardless. 

[psp83]

What would be the point in flaming? They'll be enough people reading this who think you're wrong without the need for any of them to flame.

As I've said before, there will always be those who accept poor service without complaint, and you appear to fall in to that category, but what you need to remember is that you will ultimately benefit from an improved service brought about because some of us are prepared to complain when it's justified. This isn't the first, or indeed the second, time there have been problems with email. If it were, I suspect the complaints would have been fewer and less harsh.

And who cares what was included a year ago? Cars didn't used to come routinely fitted with electric windows. Next time yours fails, I hope you'll accept it as a free gift and not an integral part of the car. Would hate to think you'd moan about anything failing.

Well you dont know me then.. First sign of problems i moan to the right people.

I was with Tiscali for years and was forever moaning at them.. Thats why i moved here.. I wanted a broadband service that worked and honest about things.. IDnet have always been up front with me and i'm sure with everyone else aswell..

My point in my earlier post is.. If email is that important to ANYONE then buy a domain/email hosting account.. I'm not moaning about the email problems as when i joined there wasn't a idnet.com account and idnet has added this option free of charge. they could easily put an extra pound or 2 on top the packages if they wanted but they didnt.

I work for a web developing company and i also run my own business in my spare time, So i have several of my own domains and hosting accounts. Yet again. I know what IDnet is going throu as we run servers at work and i have to deal with the clients if anything happens.. I also moan at my hosting companys if anything goes wrong.

And for you to say i'm probly a person that accepts poor service, then you haven't seen or read any of my posts on this forum then have you ? IF my broadband went down i'll be straight on the phone, same as my own email accounts. Internet and email is my life.. if i dont have it i dont get any work done, that means i dont get money.

And if anything failed on my car, i would moan (like everyone else would).. as you HAVE TO PAY to get it fixed. You dont see IDnet sending you a repair bill do you?

[LesD]

You dont see IDnet sending you a repair bill do you?

Hey steady on Paul don't go giving them ideas! 

[psp83]

Hey steady on Paul don't go giving them ideas! 

Hehe.. 

[Dopamine]

You dont see IDnet sending you a repair bill do you?

No, you're damned right I don't. I pay for the service that was advertised when I signed up......

and I have numerous domains and alternate email provision too, but that doesn't mean I or others need lecturing by fanboys like you that we should not rely on IDNet email if that is what we have chosen.

For what it's worth, I've received private messages in support of what I've been saying here, one from a previously regular poster on many of the different boards. He's now stopped posting because he feels the board is "unbalanced" by those unwilling to let others critical of IDNet have their say without fear of being branded as stupid, or overly demanding, for using and relying upon IDNet email.

[Rik]

I have had a long conversation with IDNet about the culture of 'free' email. It's understood that it is not free, but inclusive, and they are going to be addressing the 'free' culture as part of the review and forward planning.

Make no mistake, IDNet know that they cannot allow something like this to happen again. Personally, given the amount of contact I have with them, I believe hard lessons have been learnt this past week. If you remain unhappy, I would urge you to contact Simon or Tim at idnet.net, and let them know of your concerns.

The staff have, in the past, been accused of being fanboys, but you will note we were critical at the outset. Clearly, we were as let down as any customer, in some ways more so.

[Tacitus]

....Make no mistake, IDNet know that they cannot allow something like this to happen again. Personally, given the amount of contact I have with them, I believe hard lessons have been learnt this past week. ....

I agree Rik.  This has been beaten to death on here over the last week.  Everybody that uses iDNet feels let down, some grumble but overall see no reason to leave, others have quietly left for pastures that appear greener.  Some have thrown their toys out of the pram, and perhaps departed.  Since it's only a one month contract it's everybodies prerogative.   

Simon and co are obviously trying their hardest to turn the situation round and I really don't see much point in going over the same ground for the nth time. 

For what it's worth, I've received private messages in support of what I've been saying here, one from a previously regular poster on many of the different boards. He's now stopped posting because he feels the board is "unbalanced" by those unwilling to let others critical of IDNet have their say without fear of being branded as stupid, or overly demanding, for using and relying upon IDNet email.

I've been watching this and I don't think anyone has been stopped from having their say.  Some people might disagree with you but that's life.  Of course you should be able to rely on iDNet mail, but the only 100% certainties in life are death and taxes.  It doesn't excuse the shambles, but if it's absolutely mission critical it's surely sensible to have alternatives in place, which I think is the point the posters were probably trying to make.

[Simon_idnet]

We've kept the Network Status at Sub-optimal because we've not completely finished optimising the new setup.

We have taken this opportunity to split the services up and re-instate them on separate servers.

POP3 and IMAP are on the server that we used as a stand-in last year (Clunker).
Spam Assasin is running on a new server (mailfilter.idnet.com).
Webmail is running as a virtual server (good test for VMware) on another machine.
Blogspace and Galleries are on their own machine.
Webspace is on a new separate machine.
SMTP is planned to move to another machine tomorrow.
The full-scale spam filter should be activated tomorrow.

We've also created a hot-spare server containing configurations for all of the above so that it can be made live if any service fails.

It has not been a completely smooth road to get to here but we are now certain that all mail is flowing uninterrupted, with no delays, in all directions.

We hope to set the Status of this service to Optimal before the weekend.
Simon

[Rik]

Great news, thanks Simon. I'm sure everyone appreciates the efforts you and Martin have put in - and many of us will be glad to see the physical split in machines and tasks.

Do you have any better idea whether you'll be able to recover data from Trevor?

[john]

Thanks for keeping us informed Simon.

[Lance]

Thanks for the update, Simon. Its good to see that the different services have been split. 

[Gary]

Thanks Simon

[Tacitus]

We have taken this opportunity to split the services up and re-instate them on separate servers.
.....[SNIP]....
We've also created a hot-spare server containing configurations for all of the above so that it can be made live if any service fails.
Simon

Good stuff Simon and I'm sure everyone will be pleased.  It looks as if you've taken pretty much all of the suggestions on board and I don't think anyone could ask for more.  Makes a change to see an ISP that actually listens to the customer's suggestions, let alone one that implements them wherever possible.

[Glenn]

It maybe an idea to move Simon's post to the IDNet announcements so more people will be able to read it.

[LesD]

It maybe an idea to move Simon's post to the IDNet announcements so more people will be able to read it.

Seconded Glen you have just pipped mr to the post!   

[Rik]

Good idea, Glenn & Les.I'll leave the original in place and put a copy in announcements. 

[LesD]

Good idea, Glenn & Les.I'll leave the original in place and put a copy in announcements. 

A link to it would do just under the first two that you have their already Rik.

P.S.  An edit, as I am too late as usual, because being a fussy individual at first glance the post looks like it's from you Rik not Simon!

[Sebby]

Thanks for the update, Simon. It sounds like the systems are much more suited to IDNet's growing business.

[Philip]

As I've said before, there will always be those who accept poor service without complaint, and you appear to fall in to that category, but what you need to remember is that you will ultimately benefit from an improved service brought about because some of us are prepared to complain when it's justified. This isn't the first, or indeed the second, time there have been problems with email. If it were, I suspect the complaints would have been fewer and less harsh.

If I had a complaint about IDNet, I certainly wouldn't complain here, which, without wanting to sound disrespectful to anyone on here, is an unofficial forum, I would go straight to IDNet for answers.

What I find strange is people coming on here complaining about IDNet when no-one on here has any official capacity with IDNet, sure Simon D posts here, but as a courtesy to us all.

[Simon]

Thanks for the update, Simon, which I think is what most people wanted to hear. 

[psp83]

No, you're damned right I don't. I pay for the service that was advertised when I signed up......

and I have numerous domains and alternate email provision too, but that doesn't mean I or others need lecturing by fanboys like you that we should not rely on IDNet email if that is what we have chosen.

For what it's worth, I've received private messages in support of what I've been saying here, one from a previously regular poster on many of the different boards. He's now stopped posting because he feels the board is "unbalanced" by those unwilling to let others critical of IDNet have their say without fear of being branded as stupid, or overly demanding, for using and relying upon IDNet email.

I dont give a damn what people say or pm you.. Ever heard of freedom of speech?
But theres one thing.. someone using "fanboy" or "M$" in there post get no attention from me, i class these people as idiots.

I'm just sticking up for idnet as i know what they are going through.. and get called a fanboy..

You are now in the same class with me as the people that use M$ for microsoft.

##############

Rik, gunna PM you in a min.
I know you probly wont read it till tomorrow though.

[Simon]

Seeing as this thread was originally about email delays, which have now been rectified (see Simon's post), it seems to be serving no more useful purpose, therefore, the thread is now closed.