RESOLVED-Action Required: Email delays through SMTP

***UPDATED INSTRUCTIONS BELOW***

Over the past few weeks some of our POP users have experienced varying delays when sending Yahoo! Mail messages via email clients (such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.). We understand that this has been frustrating, and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Recently we began experiencing an unexpected increase in traffic through the servers we have dedicated for POP/SMTP messages. When we first became aware that some users were having their messages delayed because of this we examined the issue, and the initial solution appeared to have the problem under control. However we soon learned that more needed to be done to ensure the levels of service we strive to provide.

As a result we spent the last several days not only upgrading hardware resources for our SMTP servers, but also restructuring the way the bandwidth of these servers is allocated. We are confident that this solution will not only resolve the immediate problems, but also ensure that the systems are even more reliable in the future.

UPDATED: 2/25 – ACTION REQUIRED
It looks like it wasn’t clear where to look or what needed to be updated, so hopefully this will call it out a little better. Most users will need to update the settings in their email client. You’ll need to login to your Yahoo! Mail account and visit the Options area to see your personal settings. We are also updating Help pages, but the best way to get the updated information is from within your account.

• Login to Yahoo! Mail
• Click on the Mail Options link
• Click on “POP & Forwarding”
  
• Click on “Set up or edit POP & Forwarding”
• Click on “POP Settings” or “View POP Settings”
• Review the settings provided and update your email client to match

Sorry for any confusion!
End 1st Update———

UPDATED: 2/26 – ACTION REQUIRED
It’s still looking my instructions aren’t as clear (or as thorough) as I thought. Fortunately, the Help pages are all updated and provide EXCELLENT step-by-step instructions.

Please click on the following links if you need detailed help for either of the following email clients:

• Microsoft Outlook 2002 (XP) and 2003
• Microsoft Outlook 2007

As I’ve also noted in the comments section, some users have found that it worked best when they removed the Yahoo! account from Outlook, and that added it in as a new POP account (rather than updating the existing settings).
End 2nd Update ———

To ensure that your email client is properly configured to access the correct SMTP server you will need to login to the Mail Options of your Yahoo! Mail web account and review the updated settings provided in the POP Access Settings area.

Not everyone’s settings will need to be updated, but these settings could vary by region, so make sure you review and go with what is listed for your own account. Fortunately this is something that you would have done when you originally set up your email client, so it should be a pretty straightforward change.

Thank you again for your patience and for continuing to be a Yahoo! Mail customer.

Regards,

Ryan K. Community Manager Yahoo! Mail