Outlook error not in Google? (now with proper error message)

[SteveC]

I look after several websites for various organisations in what is left of my spare time.

One of my users has reported getting this error 'Not stable enough to access server' from Outlook. Googling that phrase produces precisely zero hits.

Anyone got any ideas?

(Would happen this week when I am out every night)

[ravenbait]

Is your user reporting the error correctly? Have they supplied a screenshot? I can't find that error either, even without searching specifically for Outlook, which suggests perhaps it's being misreported.

Sam

[Lightning Phil]

Outlook is for email what’s that got to do with your websites?

[SteveC]

@ravenbait - after as asked about the error message, she sent me a screenshot. Much more helpful. I don't know the answer, but at least I now know what the problem is!

@Lightning Phil - the website (or, more accurately I suppose, the domain) has a mail server on it. Most do, so I tend to conflate the two terms.

[SteveC]

The full error is:

a stable connection to the server could not be established

which is not getting me much further. Any ideas? The screen shot showed the settings used and they seem to be OK.

[Feanor]

Are you sure it's not a *secure* connection?

That has a specific meaning.

[ravenbait]

The full error is:

a stable connection to the server could not be established

which is not getting me much further. Any ideas? The screen shot showed the settings used and they seem to be OK.

I get that at work sometimes. I ignore it. Eventually it goes away. In the meantime I get work done without constant interruption by new emails. BONUS.

Sam

[SteveC]

Are you sure it's not a *secure* connection?

Definitely stable.

I do now suspect the issue is at the user end, not the server. To be honest, I always have as nobody else has this problem and there are about a dozen other users.

[Kim]

It's still a specific-enough message that you'd think someone would have explained what it actually means, but there's very little on the interwebs.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was a server-side error message meaning that the client has exceeded some limit for the number of simultaneous connections.  (The assumption being that large numbers of connections are a result of the client timing out and connecting repeatedly, which is an unhelpfully assumptive assumption.)  But that is a complete guess.

[Lightning Phil]

Look at the logs on your email server, for the time period the user had connection problems. Might indicate what was going on.   Do you have a real time dash board for your server status?

[iddu]

Are you sure it's not a *secure* connection?

Definitely stable.

I do now suspect the issue is at the user end, not the server. To be honest, I always have as nobody else has this problem and there are about a dozen other users.

Well, for "...stable.." (right message) Mr Google throws up multiple threads, all of which appear to pan out as The user has entered some incorrect connectivity detail somewhere along the line....so indeed check, check, and check again.