Why does Mail take so long to download/send e-mails?

mikeh · 07-16-2002, 12:55 PM

I'm very new to OS X so my ignorance may be shining through - but I've just set up the OS X Apple Mail app to download/send new messages to/from our domain server (our e-mail accounts are through godaddy) and it seems to run (circling arrow) for over 2 minutes each time it is downloading or sending e-mails - and these e-mails are one-liners w/no attachments. Since our ISP is AT&T w/cable modem - speed should not be an issue. On our other OS 9 macs running Entourage, e-mail download/sends take place in 2-5 seconds. Is it possible that Mail is scanning a bunch of servers each time, looking for the godaddy domain server? I can't explain why it's taking so long but as currently configured - Mail is basically unusable because of this slow speed. We have three macs on our local area network at home (only one of which is running OS X).

Any suggestions on the possible cause of slowness?

Jacques · 07-16-2002, 03:19 PM

I use dial-up and let me share with you, it's no different from this perspective. Mail.app using @mac.com email has been the slowest POP email experience I've ever been through, that includes my Commodore 64 days with the phat 300 bps modem!

I'll be interested to see if anyone can offer any help.. how fast is Entourage or Eudora for you? Have you tried it with your email account? (If you'd like to check, link to Office X - Test Drive which includes Entourage X - or Eudora 5.1.1 to see if you find speed improvements.

Jacques

griffman · 07-16-2002, 03:46 PM

Very odd ... I have a cable modem at home and regularly check accounts on four domains with no perceptable delays at all.

You might try creating a DNS entry locally for the godaddy.com server to see if that helps -- see this hint for more information on how to do that using NetInfo Manager.

-rob.

scowls · 07-18-2002, 12:50 PM

I get a pretty rapid response on receiving e-mail, but sending is fussy. Sometimes it sends quickly, sometimes it takes a very long time. Occasionally it doesn't go out at all until I've quit and relaunched the app a few times.

There have been other threads about Mail's issues. I'm suspicious there are just a lot bugs still in the system.

Hopefully the Jaguar version will be better. Does anyone know if will be able to get the new Mail app without upgrading to Jaguar? $129 is a bit steep for a bunch of bug fixes....

Jacques · 07-18-2002, 01:25 PM

That's it! I'm going back to snail mail..

07-16-2002, 12:55 PM	#1
mikeh Prospect Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1	Why does Mail take so long to download/send e-mails? I'm very new to OS X so my ignorance may be shining through - but I've just set up the OS X Apple Mail app to download/send new messages to/from our domain server (our e-mail accounts are through godaddy) and it seems to run (circling arrow) for over 2 minutes each time it is downloading or sending e-mails - and these e-mails are one-liners w/no attachments. Since our ISP is AT&T w/cable modem - speed should not be an issue. On our other OS 9 macs running Entourage, e-mail download/sends take place in 2-5 seconds. Is it possible that Mail is scanning a bunch of servers each time, looking for the godaddy domain server? I can't explain why it's taking so long but as currently configured - Mail is basically unusable because of this slow speed. We have three macs on our local area network at home (only one of which is running OS X). Any suggestions on the possible cause of slowness?

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07-16-2002, 03:19 PM	#2
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 967	I use dial-up and let me share with you, it's no different from this perspective. Mail.app using @mac.com email has been the slowest POP email experience I've ever been through, that includes my Commodore 64 days with the phat 300 bps modem! I'll be interested to see if anyone can offer any help.. how fast is Entourage or Eudora for you? Have you tried it with your email account? (If you'd like to check, link to Office X - Test Drive which includes Entourage X - or Eudora 5.1.1 to see if you find speed improvements. Jacques

07-16-2002, 03:46 PM	#3
griffman MVP Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 1,471	Very odd ... I have a cable modem at home and regularly check accounts on four domains with no perceptable delays at all. You might try creating a DNS entry locally for the godaddy.com server to see if that helps -- see this hint for more information on how to do that using NetInfo Manager. -rob.

07-18-2002, 12:50 PM	#4
scowls Prospect Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 38	I get a pretty rapid response on receiving e-mail, but sending is fussy. Sometimes it sends quickly, sometimes it takes a very long time. Occasionally it doesn't go out at all until I've quit and relaunched the app a few times. There have been other threads about Mail's issues. I'm suspicious there are just a lot bugs still in the system. Hopefully the Jaguar version will be better. Does anyone know if will be able to get the new Mail app without upgrading to Jaguar? $129 is a bit steep for a bunch of bug fixes....

07-18-2002, 01:25 PM	#5
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 967	That's it! I'm going back to snail mail..