Mentor
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106 Messages
Severe Problems With Outlook Email Authentication And Both Legacy DSL & U-verse
I'm an IT consultant who has worked with Outlook since the earliest versions and with AT&T since it was Southwestern Bell, and I have never seen a problem as bad as this. This problem has been plaguing me and several of my clients for 2 or 3 weeks now and it's about to run us all nuts (some, like me, have "legacy" DSL and some have U-verse). The maddening thing is that it happens intermittently, not constantly and with no rhyme or reason. For reasons unknown, the AT&T mail server suddenly stops "authenticating" the Outlook client, either for the logon, password, or both and that accursed window pops-up asking for your logon & password. However, no matter how many times you put them in (verifying that they are correct first) and check the "Save Settings" box, the authentication fails over & over again, and then just suddenly starts working out of the blue. I have checked and double-checked all the settings and they are correct per the AT&T online documentation. I've even run the online-based configuration tool and the same thing continues to happen on a totally random basis. One of my clients spent a couple of hours on talking to (overseas) tech support and they only made the problem worse, causing him to get a totally new email address and change his password multiple times. He also told my guy that AT&T has "mandated" that your password be changed every 3 months, but to the best of my knowledge that's only if you use the Webmail product, not the SMTP based method with Outlook. This is happening with Office 2007, Office 2010 & Office 2013 products, right across the board. I keep telling my clients that if I could solve the problem I'd do it for me first but that is not assuaging their frustration. This has to be on the AT&T end of things due to the nature of the problem but they do not seem to want to acknowledge it. Any insight as to 1. why this is happening on such a protracted basis and 2. what AT&T is doing to address it would be appreciated. When it happens to this many people over an extended period of time there's definitely something "rotten in San Antonio"... Thanks
lem3
Guru
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498 Messages
9 years ago
I am using Seamonkey (Thunderbird clone) and IMAP, I have never had this problem. It's still possible the issue is with Outlook, or more likely the ATT POP server you are using. I think both of these are still available for POP:
inbound.att.net / 995
pop.att.yahoo.com / 995
Whichever you are using, try the other one.
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75vette
Scholar
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93 Messages
9 years ago
inbound.att.net / 995 is what my setup has been all along.
I've had ATT-Uverse for over 2 years and this problem continues to be a periodical nuisance. I've never had the problem with other email clients. It has to be an ATT problem.
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meglhaden
Scholar
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112 Messages
9 years ago
Yes the problem still exists. It's been going on for years and years. Sometimes it gets a temporary fix but it always comes back. Just started again recently. It's just AT&T. I check several other email accounts with the same Outlook and never have this problem. The errors only come from AT&T. Come on AT&T....fix this problem already!
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davidzzzz
Teacher
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15 Messages
9 years ago
I've had this problem on and off for years. No popup boxes for months and then 20 popups a day for a week. The fact that it's intermittent means that my settings are correct. Otherwise it wouldn't log in SOMETIMES.
This MSKB article that says it's because the server is overloaded at times.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975363
My thought is to write a VBA script in Outlook that clicks OK each time the popup box appears. The script would have to somehow identify that specific popup box, so it doesn't automatically click OK for every popup box.
Does anyone know how to write that script?
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Travis_Lloyd
Mentor
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106 Messages
9 years ago
After several months of relief I'm suddenly starting to experience these same accursed problems again, this time with my newly installed Windows 8.1 Professional and Office Home & Business 2013 programs. It is definitely not a problem with the software, either Windows 8.1 or Outlook 2013; it has to be on the AT&T mail server side. Before I try the latest Hotfix & registry hack mentioned by Davidzzzz I need to know if it works for Windows 8.1 and Office (Outlook) 2013 though. Can somebody shed some light on this first, before I take the plunge?
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davidzzzz
Teacher
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15 Messages
9 years ago
I'm not talking about a registry hack . I'm talking about a simple macro (i.e. VBA script). I've wrtten many macros for Excel, but never written one for Outlook.
The macro would be simple. Each time it sees that popup box it would automatically click OK. The macro would work in any version of Outlook or Windows as long as it uses only legacy functions/features. If newer functions/features are used, then it might not be compatable with older versions of Outlook. But that's unlikely.
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Vanspc
Contributor
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1 Message
9 years ago
I have had the same problem for two or three years now and last summer I think I found the root cause. Try turning off your “Protection against phishing” in your anti-virus program. I have not had a problem until the last week or so after I installed my new updated anti-virus. I had forgotten what I did last summer until just now. Give it a try.
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75vette
Scholar
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93 Messages
9 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion.
However, I'd rather keep all my safety tools on an have ATT fix their problem.
We shouldnt have to search for work-arounds to circumvent their error. They charge us a high rate and I feel they should invest in some quality control.
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lem3
Guru
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498 Messages
9 years ago
I'm curious: If you are having the intermittent Outlook authentication problem please post the address of your incoming mail server.
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75vette
Scholar
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93 Messages
9 years ago
I've tried both of these;
inbound.att.net / 995
pop.att.yahoo.com / 995
Currently using the 2nd one.
Crossing my fingers. No problems yet today.
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