Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

[jethro]

Using Microsoft ffoice 365 have started getting the dreaded Outlook Password Popup again - I know this has been an ongoing recurring problem for some users - usually it disappears after 15 mins or so ( I undertstnd that it's something to do with synchronisation) but this time it seems to be more persistent - still getting the popup after 1 hour - I have restarted Outlook and done a Repair but no joy.

BT e-mail  OK on my phone and BT Webmail.

Any ideas please

[rbz5416]

Don't have 365 but previous versions of Outlook allowed the timeout for a response from a mail server to be increased. Might be worth a look dependeing on whether the server is just slow responding or not responding at all.

[jethro]

Thanks - do I increase/decrease it ? - I can receive emails OK in Outlook - just can't send them - so it looks like it's SMTP ?
I still have the problem - been 3 days!- done a repair of Office 365 etc.

[rbz5416]

You increase it so that the server has more time to respond before Outlook throws up the error.

Something else often suggested is to make a note of your external IP address & then reboot the router. Check that you have a different IP address & try again. This apparently may route you to a different mail server. If the IP address doesn't change on a simple reboot, try leaving the router powered down for a few minutes.

[jethro]

The problem has got worse, after 'advice' from BT Tecnical Support ( I found out later that they were not the Email Support Team!)

After getting the dreaded popup in Outlook I contacted BT Technical team via Chat 

BTW am using Outlook from Office 365 in Windows 11

Went through detail of problem - I expalined that in the past there had been issues with Outlook and BT Mail but they were intermittent - my current circumstances were more serious as it had been a problem for over 3 days - now a week.

Various unsatisfactory rabbit holes were suggested ( changing port numbers etc) - but it was clear that the issue is related to synchronisation of  the SMTP server as as receiving mail is not an issue. 

The technical team suggested that I remove the btinternet accounts from Outllook - and then add them back 

In parallel I decided to add my hotamail and  gmail accounts to Outllook - this worked and they both sent/received OK. 

However I could not add any of my previous btinternet accounts back into Outlook - error is that the link to server drops -( no facility adjust the timeout) 

So I am left with no access to all my btinternet emails - except via webmail which doesn't integrate with Teams etc

Looking at the web there seem to be some similar issues documented but no solutions - given that the sysnchronisation issue has been around for some time why has no-one in BT addressed it seriously?

Can Moderators help please. 

[licquorice]

If the mail is ok on a mail app on your phone, the problem would appear to lie with Microsoft rather than BT.

Can you confirm 2 things.

1. You are either a BT broadband customer or paying for Premium email if not.

2. Mail app on your phone works ok when connected to your home broadband rather than 4G. I.e it is being accessed from the same IP address.

[jethro]

@licquorice : Yes and Yes

This problem is persistent rather than the intermittent issue which has happened in the past.

Scanning the Web it seems that the source of this problem has not been identified - either BT or Microsoft.  One of my issues with BT is that they know there is a problem but there is no official info about this, even acknowledging this - in fact, all there seems to be is random suggestions : one techie suggested removing the accounts from Outlook and adding them back ( This hasn't worked  - I can't restore my messages) and another saying that I shouldn't use special characters in my BT Mail password - I've been using special characters for years - with no problems. I was also told that the technical support team can't look at the SMTP server diagnostics.

As a Distinguished Sage could you please point me in the direction of getting this problem addressed by someone in BT who has appropriate technical knowledge - i.e. understands the communication between BT Mail and other mail systems ( Many years ago I was in a team in BT who actually did this but technology has moved on from then!)

[rbz5416]

Scanning the Web it seems that the source of this problem has not been identified - either BT or Microsoft.

I guess trying another non-MS client would prove that. Maybe try Thunderbird but make sure you stay with IMAP, you don't want to download all your mail!

[licquorice]

It does rather point to Microsoft if you can access your mail via a mobile using the same IP address.

As @rbz5416 has said, try a different client as a test.

[rbz5416]

I'd missed the mobile data was OK. So something else that might be worth a try before resorting to another client would be to set Google DNS on one of your devices, to see if you still get the error.