AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

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sunclad
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Joined: October 10th, 2009, 11:11 am

AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by sunclad »

Windows 10 - Ver 21H2
Thunderbird 91.4.1 (32-bit)

Anyone experiencing issues with the AOL IMAP system?

I have a Verizon.Net branded email account. When VZ purchased AOL they transferred all email to AOL systems. I have implemented their IMAP and SMTP settings and until recently mail has been operating OK.

Recently it seems that as I move from folder to folder, I reach some kind of quota and the action is not accepted by AOL. Instead I get a pop up stating that it is checking the server capabilities and then does not allow access. An example would be checking the InBox in TB. Then moving messages to Trash. Now I access Trash to clear the folder and trash from AOL's end but I get this error and it does not allow trash to be deleted.

If I wat about 10 minutes, then I can launch TB again, go to the AOL Trash folder and clear the trash.

It seems like AOL is limiting how fast one can make connections to Sync or perform IMAP folder actions such as moving between folders or deleting messages. Of course, web view has no such issues. Suspicious.

This seems to be new behavior just this month. I thought it was a random server problem but this now seems consistent for several weeks now.

FWIW, I have referenced all of the necessary settings and checked them, reinstalled them, and even deleted the account from TB, rebooted the system and program and reinstalled it with the same results. Also using their own system-generated 3rd party password that 3rd party apps like TB have to use now.

So it appears to be on AOL's end to me. if anyone has insight that will be appreciated. I can access folders in limited fashion then it seems to prevent me from doing other things as if there was a timer on it.

DMK
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tanstaafl
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by tanstaafl »

Perhaps they are imposing a undocumented bandwidth limit. Gmail has one with hourly and daily limits, though it usually doesn't cause problems with normal activities.
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sunclad
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by sunclad »

tanstaafl wrote:Perhaps they are imposing a undocumented bandwidth limit. Gmail has one with hourly and daily limits, though it usually doesn't cause problems with normal activities.
This is what I am thinking. To be sure I have deleted the account completely, rebooted, and am manually re-adding it to see what happens.

It's not a big deal but it also appears this is causing some issues with sync'ing the folders as well.

Verizon.Net addresses were migrated to AOL when Verizon purchased AOL and Yahoo some time back. We are instructed to brand the IMAP incoming server as imap.aol.com, however the SMTP server has to be smtp.verizon.net. The issue is with IMAP incoming mail.

Since there is a folder sync issue I sometimes login via web browser to double check only to find a variety of mail that has not been deleted.

I'm hoping re-adding is the key.

I also understand VZ sold off its email at AOL and Yahoo a few months back so that may have to be factored as well.

DMK
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WaltS48
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by WaltS48 »

Verizon sold more than its email.

Verizon sells AOL and Yahoo

I still access my AOL and Verizon accounts through the AOL website once a week.
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sunclad
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by sunclad »

Makes you wonder how stable their email; products will be moving forward. Interesting point... I have access to yahoo Mail for another interest but so far no issues with that system and TB or other email 3rd party programs with respect to timing out and moving stuff between IMAP folders. It's only happening to my Verizon-branded AOL account, and only within TB as a 3rd party access app. If I go in via web browser (different port access) there is no issue. Hmmmmmm.
DN123ABC
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by DN123ABC »

Anybody know anything about this "Apollo" company? Never heard of them, but now they own AOL and Yahoo Mail.
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tanstaafl
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by tanstaafl »

Apollo Global Management (APO) is a 31.35 Billion dollar private equity firm that manages about 481 Billion dollars in assets. Its doesn't have normal stock, it has business development company (BDC) stock. BDC's get preferential tax treatment, just like REITs do . "BDCs make debt and equity investments primarily in established companies, though most focus on "middle market" companies that are often a little too small for the big boys in private equity. This is as close to "Main Street" as Wall Street gets."

BDC's can have very high dividends (over 10%) though the dividend rate may vary a lot during the year. APO had a yield of 10.6% in January 2021, its currently 2.76%.

https://www.apollo.com/about-apollo

https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/sto ... s-for-2021

https://seekingalpha.com/article/443413 ... nd-the-bad
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BuddhaNature
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Re: AOL IMAP Issues - Recent?

Post by BuddhaNature »

With respect to server connection issues experienced with Yahoo and AOL IMAP email the following bug report might be germane and is worth checking out. "Empty Trash on exit" account setting fails to work for imap accounts using oauth2 authentication

Don't be overly focused on the specific "empty trash" issue as there is a wider issue that emerged and is addressed in the bug documentation. The long and the short of it with respect to maybe improving your experience with Yahoo and AOL IMAP email is to go to this setting in Thunderbird/Betterbird:

(1) For your Yahoo or AOL account go to (menu) Tools > Account Settings > Server Settings > (Text Heading) "Server Settings" > Advanced... (button)

(2) Once you are in the Advanced Account Settings dialogue look for the setting titled "Maximum number of server connections to cache". The default, on install of Thunderbird and setting up a new account, is '5'. Change that value to '3' and restart your Thunderbird and you should find you get better connection performance for Yahoo and AOL.

I have a Yahoo IMAP account and found that changing this setting did indeed stop my Betterbird from having long-standing multiple connection problems with Yahoo servers (I had also experienced this problem with the Thunderbird I used to use). I used to get multiple fails to connect when clicking between different folders in my Yahoo account, but with that setting made the fails disappeared like magic.

For the bug report itself there is now a fix/patch to be rolled out for Thunderbird version 102. The patch is already in the latest version of Betterbird — it was actually the Betterbird folks that produced the patch.

It also seems that as of Thunderbird 102 when users set up a new Yahoo or AOL account in Thunderbird that the new account will default to making the "Maximum number of server connections to cache" to '3'. However, that leaves people out in the cold who have previously set up their Yahoo or AOL accounts still having the old default, '5', and not functioning well because of that, — so really some need to publicise this a bit and advise Thunderbird users of the new recommendation.

Hope this helps.
OS: Windows 10 Pro. x64
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