Outlook RPC over HTTP 60 seconds to ID / Password prompt

[MickBurke]

I've found that when I have RPC over HTTP setup adn connect using RPC
over HTTP with the option set to use HTTP when on a slow network, but
not when on a fast network, it takes about 60 seconds to get the ID
and password prompt. I'm guessing this is because it spends a minute
to determine that the network is 'slow' meaning not existent since I'm
not connected to our intranet.

I guess the question is, is there any way to speed this process up? It
seems that it would be an easy process to see if the exchange server
is available, and if not, use RPC over HTTP. This doesn't happen in a
reasonable amount of time, and it sounds like this is a common
problem.

If I set it to use HTTP on a slow connection and use HTTP on a fast
connection it does prompt for ID and password immediately, but it
ALWAYS prompts, whether they are on the network, or on the internet,
so that isn't a good option.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Microsoft Outlook's default value for "slow" is 16KB (or 128kbps). That
minute is most likely Outlook trying to connect via TCP before switching to
HTTP. Since you don't mention what slow (e.g. dialup vs. broadband vs.
LAN/WAN), you could mess around with the SlowBitRate registry key.

Other than that, you might be able to rid yourself of the outlook prompt if
authentication is set to NTLM and not basic. Of course this depends on
whether or not IIS configuration was changed and/or whether or not said
person is using a domain joined workstation.

 

[MickBurke]

Thanks Neo, the system is a member of the domain. I also had it set to
basic authentication, but can switch it to NTLM if you think that
would be quicker. Do I just need to make sure NTLM authentication is
an option for authentication or are there some other tweaks to make?

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

No extra tweaks if you are running a config that is pretty much straight out
of the box/default install in regards to Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003 on
Windows 2003.

Just so you know, the NTLM authentication is not compatible with some
firewalls so you mileage may vary.

Thanks Neo, the system is a member of the domain. I also had it set to
basic authentication, but can switch it to NTLM if you think that
would be quicker. Do I just need to make sure NTLM authentication is
an option for authentication or are there some other tweaks to make?