Thunderbird slow when sending emails

[smhardesty]

This is the first ever question I've posted on this forum. I've searched it many times successfully in the past, but don't seem to be finding what I'm looking for this time. Maybe I'm just not entering the right search phrases.

Anyway, my problem is with sending emails from Thunderbird. I have had the problem occasionally in the past, but never for more than a day or two at a time. This time has lasted for a couple weeks and seems like it's getting even worse. When I click "Send" to send a single email to a single recipient, it takes anywhere form 5 seconds to as long as 25 or 30 seconds to actually send. Occasionally it times out, but most often it just sits there. Not sure why it doesn't time out when it takes 30 seconds, but it normally doesn't. Just sits there.

I don't send mass emails. I usually only send to a single recipient, but once in a while I might have 3 or 4 recipients as BCC. Here are the specs on what I'm using:

Lenovo G50 laptop
Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa with Mate
AMD A8-6410 APU
4GB memory
AMD Radeon R5 Graphics
Thunderbird 45.4.0
Internet service with NewWave and tested at 95 - 105 Mbps

There is absolutely nothing else on this laptop that would even be considered slightly slow. I've had it for a few months now and everything about it with Linux Mint is a dream. So I have to believe the trouble is in the settings I'm using in Thunderbird because I also have a GMX account and a Yahoo account set up in T-bird and there is no hesitation when sending from them

Any help appreciated.

[BritTim]

First, the specs of your computer are not related to the issue, and it is vanishingly unlikely to be a Thunderbird issue. This is almost certainly an issue with the network between you and Fastmail. While it might conceivably be caused by a faulty network card or local networking equipment in your house, there is a high probability that it is the network route used by your ISP. This is especially likely if you are using a typical consumer package with shared lines and limited upload speed.

If I am correct about the source of the problem, you would probably find sending early morning around 6:00 am would be problem free, regardless of what happens at other times.

Expect a very frustrating experience if you try to discuss this with your ISP. One common solution to resolve such issues is use of a VPN to alter the network path between you and Fastmail.

[emoore]

If you don't have a performance problem fetching new mail why not use the GMX SMTP server with your Fastmail account? That would seem much simpler than using a VPN. Just select the GMX SMTP server in the "Outgoing Server (SMTP):" list box near the bottom of the Fastmail account settings pane where you had specified the account name, your name, and your email address.

At worst you might need to log into GMX webmail using a browser to register your Fastmail email address as an additional From: email address to prevent the GMX SMTP server from automatically replacing the From: address with the GMX email address.

[BritTim]

One thing I forgot to mention. When configuring Thunderbird, ensure it is not saving sent emails to the server. Instead, use settings in your Identities on Fastmail to specify the saving of the emails during SMTP. This greatly reduces the upload bandwidth needed and also ensures the Sent folder exactly reflects the messages successfully sent. Separate sending and saving to the Sent folder (especially when having problems) can lead to a discrepancy.

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by emoore

If you don't have a performance problem fetching new mail why not use the GMX SMTP server with your Fastmail account? That would seem much simpler than using a VPN. Just select the GMX SMTP server in the "Outgoing Server (SMTP):" list box near the bottom of the Fastmail account settings pane where you had specified the account name, your name, and your email address.

At worst you might need to log into GMX webmail using a browser to register your Fastmail email address as an additional From: email address to prevent the GMX SMTP server from automatically replacing the From: address with the GMX email address.

I used to suggest using a different SMTP server in cases like this, but I no longer see it as a good option, except for your own domain where you can control SPF and DKIM. With emails addresses on domains you do not control, using SMTP servers other than the correct ones carries too much risk of your email being rejected as spam.

[smhardesty]

I'll try and reply to each post and suggestion. BritTim, I included the specs on my laptop and also the software related specs only because so many times when asking for assistance with a problem the first thing you see is someone requesting all the specs before offering advice. I just figured I'd cut one step out of the process of getting help. I also included the info about everything on my laptop being fast with no apparent problems, and also the info about having a GMX and a Yahoo account in T-bird that worked fine in an attempt to let everybody know that there was most certainly no problem with my laptop, my NIC, or my home network. As for ISP speeds, I have 10 Mbps upload speeds that I have tested multiple times using various website bandwidth testing and also monitoring my HTML and FTP uploads.

I send emails all hours of the day and night. I'm no longer working and I'm drawing rocking chair money in my 'supposed' golden years. I have a few health issues that interrupt my sleeping so I'm usually up at all different hours of the day and night. The problem exists at noon, midnight, 3:00 am and 3:00 pm. The problem does not exist when using web mail. In my experience, sending and receiving email via a VPN can be extremely frustrating, if not impossible at times. I'm just not sure that route would be worth the trouble. And finally, I am not saving emails to the server. Never have and never will. Whether it's emails, photos, websites, or any other type of file/data you don't really 'own' the file/data if it's stored anywhere other than your own devices. If it's on somebody else's server they own it more than you do. They can change their terms of use at any time and hold your files/data hostage if they choose. I'm not a complete conspiracy nut, but do believe data housed outside your own devices is fair game to outside sources.


emoore, the idea of using GMX to send mail had actually crossed my mind. I have resisted trying it only because I happen to be one of those guys that goes all out to make something work the way it's 'supposed to'. It's frustrating to me any time I have to find a 'work around' to resolve a problem. But I guess this might very well be one of those cases where it would be a whole lot simpler and less frustrating to just 'work around' the problem.

Thanks to both you guys for your ideas and insights. Plenty to think about in them. I think I might try using GMX to send mail for a while and see if I experience any real problems. I don't send a lot of emails so I'll be able to monitor it very closely. If I find something of interest I'll try to remember to post it here, and if using GMX solves the problem I'll also try to remember to let everyone know the problem is resolved.

Thanks, again!

[gj15]

Originally Posted by smhardesty

When I click "Send" to send a single email to a single recipient, it takes anywhere form 5 seconds to as long as 25 or 30 seconds to actually send.

I’ve been experiencing something similar over the past couple of weeks and with other clients on different platforms too. What is particularly noticeable is the smtp transfer of a message can take ~30s yet the imap transfer of the message into the Sent folder completes in under a second.

I’ve run traceroutes to both smtp.fastmail.com and imap.fastmail.com and can’t discern any difference though I’ll readily admit networking is not an area of expertise for me. The difference is visible in Claws Mail’s Network Log when the first call to the smtp connection takes 20-30s to get a response yet the first call to the imap connection gets a response practically instantly.

Guidance welcomed on where I should look next.

[smhardesty]

I just attempted to use GMX for sending emails from my Fastmail account. No glory there, but I found success with using Yahoo to send my Fastmail email. I sent 2 different emails to 2 different recipients and both were received with no trouble. I'll continue to use Yahoo and see if I experience any problems.

UPDATE:

I've sent a few emails using Yahoo to send my Fastmail emails. I have experienced no problems doing this so far. I guess I'm going to consider my problem solved.

[gj15]

I think I’ve resolved my problem here. I’m on a dynamic IP address service and my IP address changed a couple of weeks ago to one which erroneously doesn’t have a reverse DNS entry. Searching “fastmail slow smtp” returns a few results showing comparable events and it seems the delay is intentional in this situation to limit attack or abuse of the service.

The quick fix would be to restart my router to get a different IP address with hopefully a valid reverse DNS entry but I’m going to ask my service provider to fix this for the benefit of all who might get that address.

You can check your own IP address entry using this tool: http://mxtoolbox.com/ReverseLookup.aspx

What was interesting on the way was discovering the other services that don’t seem to use this check, including some names known well here.

[lane]

Originally Posted by gj15

I think I’ve resolved my problem here. I’m on a dynamic IP address service and my IP address changed a couple of weeks ago to one which erroneously doesn’t have a reverse DNS entry.

I think it likely that this is the problem. It was so bad for me, when I switched to a new internet provider with no reverse DNS entry, that I stopped using Fastmail. They recently began to provide a valid reverse DNS entry, and everything works well now. (I may or may not go back to Fastmail - Office 365 aka Exchange Online is working pretty well.)