Hi

I have Microsoft Outlook as my e-mail program. I have dial-up internet. I am wondering if there is any reason that I should not increase my time out setting to a higher number than default. Default is 1 minute, and I can set it all the way to 60 minutes.

I do not currently have any problems reading my e-mail messages, however if I were to send/receive large files like videos through my e-mail, I think that I might have issues.

Thanks for any replies.

 

I believe the 'timeout' counter only starts if communication is lost or interrupted. If you're sending/receiving email (especially those with attachments) that may take substancial time to transmit, you should not have issues with timeout counter as long as the transmission activity is not interrupted or lost.

 

hmmm just wondering why with SBC offering DSL @ 14.95 a month your still on dail up????

 

Many of us country folk aren't all eligible for DSL/cable modem just yet. The facilties just outside most metro's wasn't designed to handle today's modern telecom services. They're setting new poles and pulling new facilities (electrical/fiber) in my neck of the woods as we speak...

 

Ummm, it depends on what timeout you're talking about... there are a couple of them.

Within Outlook there's a "Server Timeout" (from Outlook, pick: tools | email | View | Change | More | Advanced). That one will kick in when Outlook is waiting on the server for something (email, attachments, answers to the meaning of life) and doesn't hear from it within a certain time.

Then there's the "Idle Timeout" within dial-up networking ("DUN") - from Outlook, pick: tools | email | View | Change | More | Connection | Properties | Options. That one will kick in when the _connection_ (not the keyboard or mouse) doesn't have any activity for a certain amount of time.

I actually think there's one more, but I can't remember where it is. Is this Outlook or Outlook Express? That may be the difference.


Anyway... I think that the timeouts within the scope of Outlook work based on the amount of time that _Outlook_ is using the network interface (your modem in this case). The DUN timeout watches for _anything_ using the network. So, if you're transfering a large file from within a web browser, then that wouldn't be affected by the Outlook timeouts, but would be affected by the DUN timeout. In a similar fashion, if you're pulling a 5meg file across email, then that would fall under _both_ the Outlook and the DUN timeouts.


Does that help or confuse?

 

my house in MD is in the middle of a city and is still to far from whatever I need to be close to to be able to get DSL....