Outlook for Mac login failure

[markobbie]

My email application logs me out constantly. I've spent many hours with my email hosting company and with Microsoft and all fingers point back to HughesNet. 

I'm using Outlook for Mac v. 15.35 (I was using Office 2011 for Mac, but upgraded -- at $100 a year -- as part of the troubleshooting). The problems have existed when I was on the old satellite but got worse when I switched to Gen5. 

I am able to send and receive IMAP mail. But Outlook repeatedly logs me out. Every few minutes I'm typing in a long password. Sometimes I get the message immediately after entering the password. We've changed various settings, performed various resets, and it keeps happening. A tech at Network Solutions (Web.com), which hosts my email server, says the tests he ran suggest it's a "latency" problem where a lag between submitting and authenticating the login information fails. 

The error message says "login failed" because "your username/password or security settings may be incorrect," but the password is correct and the other techs have tried any number of changes in security settings.

Any others having this problem? Is there any sort of utility to test for this, or better yet fix it? 

[C0RR0SIVE]

You may want to look into this to see if it helps any...

https://michaelkummer.com/mac-outlook-keeps-asking-password/

[markobbie]

I tried the solution found at that link -- deleting certain Keychain items -- but I couldn't find any files by the same names as what it recommended deleting. Anyone from Hughes heard of this problem? 

[C0RR0SIVE]

markobbie,

Depending on your system, there is a known issue with accessing certain services right now in regards to Outlook...  @Liz would be able to tell whether you might be one of the customers that are being impacted by this.

[Liz]

Hi Mark,

I dug into our reports and there have been no other cases lately like yours. I also thought you might be similarly affected like the other group of customers here with e-mail concerns, but after investigating and conferring with our engineers, you seem to have a separate issue. I'm inclined to agree with that Network Solutions tech, that the latency may be causing enough lag to cause authentication problems.

-Liz

[markobbie]

Thank you. So what's the solution, short of dumping Outlook (I have too many saved emails to consider that option)? Is there any way to tweak my connection to clear it up? Or does a utility exist that would minimize the problem?

[Liz · Accepted solution]

Good morning Mark,

Can't do anything about latency, but just taking a stab in the dark here, you can try disabling Web Acceleration (WAS) before you log in and keeping it off for the duration of checking your e-mail. I'm curious as to whether that will have any effect. Here's how to toggle WAS off and on. Having WAS off is only for temporary use and not for long term use, so please remember to turn it back on when you're done.

Visit your System Control Center (SCC) at 192.168.0.1 and click on the "i" icon at the top. 

Click on Web Acceleration in the left hand menu.

Click on Control in the expanded sub-menu.

Uncheck the box next to Web Acceleration Enabled.

-Liz

[markobbie]

Thank you, Liz. Fingers crossed, but that seems to have done the trick. I've gone more than one hour without a login failure. If it keeps happening, I'll post an update here. But it appears to be making a difference.

Because my satellite internet connection isn't all that fast to begin with -- so I already have to settle for less than optimal load times, and rarely bother trying to stream video -- what is the downside to keeping web accelleration control off permanently? 

[markobbie]

And ... literally the minute I posted my reply, I got a login failed message. So, NOT solved. 

[Liz]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for the update, I'm sorry to hear that didn't do the trick. As mentioned before, nothing we can do about the latency, but we can look into these slow speeds you're experiencing. Please follow these steps to run tests so we can see what speeds you're getting: http://customer.kb.hughesnet.com/Pages/7001.aspx

Most important points:
-do the tests while directly connected to the HughesNet modem
-use the 25MB test file for download speed
-space each test at least 5 minutes apart
-post your results URL here, it may look something like http://testmy.net/quickstats/[yourusername]

I see you're currently subject to our Fair Access Policy right now, which certainly will reduce speeds. I'm operating under the impression that you're experiencing slow speeds under normal circumstances. So I've sent you some complimentary tokens so that you may use them to run the speed tests at your convenience. You may receive an e-mailed order confirmation for these free tokens.

Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

[markobbie]

Kind of confused by this process of tokens and tests, but I think I did what you want. Here's the test result: http://testmy.net/share/gm3R4BI7T

[GabeU]

@markobbie

You should create an account at testmy.net and run the tests while signed in to that account.  This will save all of your tests in a central location, making each one, and all of them as a whole, much easier to look at and decipher.  Having them all in one place also makes it easier to see speed patterns.    

Then you can post your results URL, like shown in Liz's post.  Clicking on that will take one to all of your tests that have been run under that account.   

[GabeU]

@markobbie

Though this doesn't really have anything to do with the topic at hand, I figured I'd mention this only for your personal knowledge.  

When YOU click Results when signed in at testmy.net it takes you to the page of YOUR test results.  One of the annoying things about this page is that it often contains test results from other people, and that's due to the shared IP addresses by HughesNet.  The way to get rid of these so that you only see YOUR tests is by going to the bottom left of the results box and clicking on the option that says "Exclude tests taken on your connection ID that are not logged under Mark Obbie."  This will get rid of those tests that aren't yours.  When others look at your results, though, they only see YOUR tests, and not the others.  So, like mentioned, this is just for your own benefit.    

I just figured I'd mention it as I find the default of having other tests on the same connection ID showing to be annoying as can be.  

The box to click on is here....

[markobbie]

Thanks for all of the tips. I ran a number of tests with the 25 mb download. http://testmy.net/quickstats/Mark%20Obbie

[Liz]

Good morning Mark,

Thank you for your results URL and for running tests. From what I can see, you're getting twice the plan speed, but I noticed these tests were done in the morning. If you tend to experience slow browsing in the evenings, I suggest running the tests around then so we can see what speeds you're getting when it feels slow.

[markobbie]

I'll try to remember to do that, but in the meantime I came up with the ultimate solution. I just spent the morning giving up on Outlook and moving over to Apple Mail. I have sunk too much time already in tech calls and conversations with three providers (you, my email host, and my Internet access provider). The problem with Outlook persisted no matter how fast the clean the connection. It happened at all hours of the day, constantly. I give up!

Thanks for the help from Hughes.