We have a SBS 2003 R2 installation running Exchange 2003. The installation is fully patched through Windows Updates.
The environment is pretty standard - 25 users internally. (I also have 5 other clients running this type of configuration but with better quality ISP providing internet access - never seen this issue anywhere else). All users have XP Professional SP2 or SP3, Outlook 2003 with Office 2003 SP3 and latest security updates. Of the 25 users, 5 are laptop users and move their laptops in and out of the environment.
The problem is when the laptop users try to retrieve their email when they are remote. We have RPC over HTP configured for remote Outlook. Sometimes there is no problem and they get their email quickly and easily, but at least 2-3 x per week, we have problems getting email when remote. We see this even more when the laptop users are travelling out of the country (in Europe especially), the connection is extremely poor.
In the lower right corner of the Outlook screen, the message "Outlook is trying to retrieve data from the Microsoft Exchange Server XXXSBS" and the Send and Receive progress meter seems to hang up. Getting 30-40 emails (2-10 meg total) can take up to 2 or 3 hours to complete and often does not complete at all.
I feel that the problem lay with my ISP(Rogers), but they claim it is not them. It's our word against their word. The connection is no better than a home cable connection and the ISP does not have any tools to help me troubleshoot - other than telling me that I need to disconnect my cable modem from my Hardware firewall to troubleshoot - not a very viable option for a production network. It's very frustrating, but until I can get proof that the problem is with them, management won't agree to change the connection to a T1 as the location is outside any decent ADSL areas.
Another symptom is that when I try to remotely administer the server through Remote Web Workplace, I find very slow access with very choppy screen refreshes.
Any help with this or suggestions would be very welcome. We're getting quite desparate.
