when i use outlook express to connect to my mailbox whether over a dsl line or T-1, it is terribly slow in downloading messages, purging messages, sending messages, copying/moving message etc. is this the case with anyone else? i am in new york, is that just too far from the server to get a good connection speed? how can i speed it up?

I assume you are using IMAP protocol to connect to the server and get mail from it. IMAP is rathe slow method of handling mail because everything is stored on the server and Outlook should download headers of messages each time.

I can recommend you to use POP3 protocol to download your mail to your computer or use webmail.

My clients have been using POP3 for several months with Outlook Express, but in the past two weeks or so, they have all had a VERY noticeable slowdown when opening messages. So it's NOT IMAP vs OPO3. They have a mix of DSL, cable internet, direct T1, so it's NOT THEIR connection speed.

Please let me know whta servers you are on so we could look at it closer.

i am running imap on grovernetwork.com
it has been slow from the start, but IMAP is really what i need, not POP since i access my mail from different places and different programs all the time. also, it is not the downloading of headers. even if i copy 1 message to another folder in outlook express, it is terribly slow. saving messages in PINE is pretty quick in comparison.

I guess we located the problem that could cause this. We had a user who ran chat sessions at that server and overloaded server at certain period of time so programs could be slower at that moment. We suspended that account because hosting chats violates our up. Let me know how things are now.

there doesn't seem to have been noticeable difference in the server lag times. any other guesses?

We have moved 6 most script intensive sites of the server and server load is back to normal. I can assume that your problem may be with some ISP causing bottleneck in conection. We can give you a test account on another server that has other ip range thus should be routed over other providers and you can check it out whether this is the issue.