Can't get Evo/Thunderbird mail from Compuserve

[dgermann]

Hi--

The problem: neither Evolution nor Thunderbird can connect to my Compuserve POP3 account to collect my e-mail.

The symptoms:

1. Yahoo mail and mail2web connect to this account and collect e-mail properly. And dialup, too.

2. Telnet stalls out connecting to pop.compuserve.com 110 without offering a "server ready" prompt, except once every 20 tries.

3. tracepath sometimes connects, sometimes times out.

4. Neither Thunderbird nor Evo ask for a password when connecting to CompuServe; but when connecting to ComCast they do. For Compuserve, they just time out.

My system: 4 Ubuntu 6.06 boxes, a WinXP Pro, and two Win95 boxes connected through a LinkSys router WRT54G. ComCast is my ISP.

What I've tried: About every combination of settings for the accounts under Evo and Thunderbird, including creating new accounts via their wizards.

Asking at Compuserve--so far they seem stumped.

Turning off the firestarter firewall--made no difference.

Trying Evo from a different computer--made no difference.

Trying telnet from a Win95 box--made no difference.

Checking the router settings to see if there is something blocking any sites, including compuserve--nothing that I can see.

Pulling my hair out for about 6 hours--made no difference. ;)

It seems to me that I am not connecting reliably to their server from inside my network. But where the problem is, I cannot figure out.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Icarus]

Start taking hardware out of the equation...take the net connection and plug right into the computer. If that still doesn't work, call your provider

[dgermann]

Icarus--

Thanks!

What I read from this is that I need to string an ethernet cable from the modem to the computer with nothing between and see if that goes. Am I close?

Thanks, Icarus!

[dgermann]

OK, I found the cable going from my computer to the switch. I unplugged it from the back of the switch and plugged it in directly to the modem. So the connection should have been straight through.

However I could not get any Internet at all--no Web, no ping.

Is there another way to test this that I am missing?

Thanks!

[dgermann]

The saga continues:

Monday the Linksys tech told me to try a firmware upgrade. I did and lost all connectivity. After working with it for 3 hours till 1:20 am or so, the tech gave up, gave me an rma to return it.

Today I bought a new one, the same model WRT54G, but version 6 instead of version 5. Same problems, not quite as severe: can connect to CIS via telnet or mail client about one in 8 tries.

It might be easier for me to dump CIS entirely and go through the pain of notifying all my correspondents of my new address than to continue this pain. I do not seem to have difficulty getting Comcast e-mail.

One guy over in PC Hardware forum of Compuserve writes--

===clip

The problem lies in the CIS network and how CIS does load balancing. It's been a problem ever since CompuServe first exposed it's mail servers to the Internet and opened up to POP3 in addition to its proprietary old mail system.

The load balancing servers aren't always successful in directing your connection to an available host inside the network. My suspicion for various informal tests over the year is that the CIS internal network is overly congested.

I can duplicate Doug's poor connection record with mail clients on Linux, OS X and Windows XP.

===you are whole

I don't know what to do. But I am getting hints, huh?

Thanks for all your help!