Connections to Exchange 2003 server

[John Brewer, Jr.]

I¹ve had ongoing issues with connection to my corporate Exchange 2003
server, frustrating
in that the issues occur sporadically. First, details on my setup.

TiBook 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM, OS10.4.10, Entourage 11.3.3; wireless LAN into
1.5MB/750kB DSL internet connection; connect to corporate Exchange server
via VPN.

I have been using this configuration for over a year with sporadic results.
VPN connection is fine, can browse Internet through remote corporate server,
access remote personal SMTP email server via smtpauth, no worries.

Exchange is a different issue. Often I start Exchange with the VPN active,
upon opening the words "Not Connected" appear next to the icon for the main
inbox. In a couple of seconds, those words always disappear. Sometimes I
immediately get the "activity bar" in the lower right corner of the main
window with words describing which folders (Inbox, Calendar, etc.) are being
updated. That indicates I'm actually interacting with the Exchange server,
and all is fine. Sometimes I get "Send and Receive All" will run in __
minutes" and I cannot interact with the Exchange server.

When interaction with the server happens, it is maintained until I close
Entourage or the VPN connection. When I get the "...will run in..."
message, interaction with the server never happens. The only way I can gain
interaction with the Exchange server is to shut Entourage, close the VPN,
reestablish the VPN and open Exchange. Sometimes, doing this once gains
interaction with the Exchange server. Sometimes changing to one of my
alternate VPN server addresses (in different parts of the world) finally
gains me interaction with the Exchange server. Sometimes I have to reboot
the laptop in order to interact with the Exchange server.

My Exchange account resides on a server at our company's San Diego office.
We have VPN access to servers in Ottawa, Boston, Hong Kong, and London. My
location in the world seems to have little to do with which VPN access point
gives me interaction with the Exchange server.

I've also tried not using the VPN and going in through the Webmail address.
That approach has the same sporadic results - gain interaction with the
server sometimes, not other times.

I've got to believe this has something to do with how Entourage and Exchange
interact, or something to do with latency in the internet connection. (I've
seen serious latency sensitivities cause crashes in Outlook on Windows XP,
it happens to me on the same company's Exchange servers very frequently.)
Icing on the cake: my IT guys hate Macs and won't support me on this. It¹s
OK,
someday I¹ll buy an iPhone and won¹t let them touch it...

Any thoughts?


Kind regards,
jbrewer

John Brewer, Jr.
Vice President, Marketing
SiGe Semiconductor

Voice   +1.503.614.8617
Email (e-mail address removed)

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Exchange is a different issue. Often I start Exchange with the VPN active,
upon opening the words "Not Connected" appear next to the icon for the main
inbox.

When you are connected through VPN, can you load the Outlook Web Access
page for the server in your browser?? (Entourage hits the same server on
the same port for the Exchange accounts).


Corentin

 

[John Brewer, Jr.]

When you are connected through VPN, can you load the Outlook Web Access
page for the server in your browser?? (Entourage hits the same server on
the same port for the Exchange accounts).


Corentin

Corentin:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've tried that approach as well, same
inconsistent results. Sometimes I can interact with Exchange using the
Outlook Web Address (https://mail.sige.com/exchange) through VPN, but not
any more reliable than addressing the server directly or using the Outlook
Wed Address over the open Internet.


jbrewer

 

[William Smith]

Corentin:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've tried that approach as well, same
inconsistent results. Sometimes I can interact with Exchange using the
Outlook Web Address (https://mail.sige.com/exchange) through VPN, but not
any more reliable than addressing the server directly or using the Outlook
Wed Address over the open Internet.

Are you using your internal Exchange Server address or your external OWA
address in Entourage? I clicked on the link above and got to the login,
which tells me you're using the external address.

Find out which Exchange Server (backend server) is hosting your account
and use its address instead.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

William M. Smith
(Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows)

 

[blakesimonson]

Are you using your internal Exchange Server address or your external OWA
address in Entourage? I clicked on the link above and got to the login,
which tells me you're using the external address.

Find out which Exchange Server (backend server) is hosting your account
and use its address instead.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

William M. Smith
(Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows)

I am using using the internal IP address of the server. I was told
that my mailbox might have recently been moved from one server to
another...could this pose a problem?

 

[John Brewer, Jr.]

Are you using your internal Exchange Server address or your external OWA
address in Entourage? I clicked on the link above and got to the login,
which tells me you're using the external address.

Find out which Exchange Server (backend server) is hosting your account
and use its address instead.

Hope this helps!

Bill:

I've been using both internal and external addresses with similar results.
I use the internal addresses through a VPN connection. Connection is fine,
can browse Internet, send email through personal server (smtpauth), just
can't get Entourage to reliably interact with the server. I always see the
"Not connected" message next to the Inbox disappear, implying a connection
to the server, but many times this does not mean I can send or receive mail,
update calendar, or any other normal Entourage function.


jbrewer

 

[PBS]

Bill:

I've been using both internal and external addresses with similar results.
I use the internal addresses through a VPN connection. Connection is fine,
can browse Internet, send email through personal server (smtpauth), just
can't get Entourage to reliably interact with the server. I always see the
"Not connected" message next to the Inbox disappear, implying a connection
to the server, but many times this does not mean I can send or receive mail,
update calendar, or any other normal Entourage function.

jbrewer

I found this. Not sure if it is helpful.

http://www.minasi.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19389

 

[PBS]

Bill:

I've been using both internal and external addresses with similar results.
I use the internal addresses through a VPN connection. Connection is fine,
can browse Internet, send email through personal server (smtpauth), just
can't get Entourage to reliably interact with the server. I always see the
"Not connected" message next to the Inbox disappear, implying a connection
to the server, but many times this does not mean I can send or receive mail,
update calendar, or any other normal Entourage function.

jbrewer

http://www.minasi.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19389

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I found this. Not sure if it is helpful.

http://www.minasi.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19389

The last post mentions:

I'm running Entourage 2004 against Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003. I had
this stupid problem for a long time and I ***accidentally*** fixed it by
RESTORING MY IIS 6 SETTINGS from a backup configuration. I believe
Entourage communicates using WebDAV over Port 80/443 with IIS to get
it's data from Exchange server. I suspect the problem is related to
mis-configuration in authentication parameters. In any case restoring
IIS settings (in my case to the date immediately after installing
Exchange server) fixed the problem. Presumably you were smart and backed
up the configuration of your IIS immediately after installing Exchange
Server.

It is true that proper network configuration is critical.
Make sure that the domain, DNS, etc settings are correct and also, use
the Directory Service application to properly specify the address of the
WINS server if you have one.

Corentin