Slow receipt of messages

General discussions and other topics.
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by bettyb » Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:41 pm
Why is it that sometimes messages to me don't show up until hours later? For instance, this morning my grand-daughter emailed me at 6:40 am. The message appeared in my inbox a little after 1pm. And, yes, I checked my email several times between 6:40 and 1pm.
by virtualmike » Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:14 pm
Take a look at the Internet headers within the message. Depending how you access your email, you may need to "show original" or "show all headers."

Within the Internet headers, there should be two or more "Received:" headers that show the steps the email took, from when it left your granddaughter's computer until it arrived in your Sonic mailbox.

Here's an example of those headers, taken from a Sonic MOTD that was sent approximately 1:55 am this morning:

Code: Select all

Received: from c.mx.sonic.net (a.spam-proxy.sonic.net [157.131.224.145])
	by a.local-delivery (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28E8tt7T030345
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT)
	for <deleted@lds.sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:55 -0700
Received: from listman.sonic.net (listman.sonic.net [64.142.105.165])
	by c.mx.sonic.net (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28E8ttvR065737
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT)
	for <deleted@sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:55 -0700
Received: from listman.sonic.net (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by listman.sonic.net (8.15.2/8.16.1) with ESMTP id 28E8toTS3514023
	for <deleted@sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:55 -0700
Received: from a.mx.sonic.net (a.mx.sonic.net [157.131.224.68])
 by listman.sonic.net (8.15.2/8.16.1) with ESMTP id 28E8tn423514016
 for <motd@listman.sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:50 -0700
Received: from sonicstatus.com (sonicstatus.com [147.75.192.220])
 by a.mx.sonic.net (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28E8tmxg223805
 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT)
 for <motd@lists.sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:49 -0700
Received: from sonicstatus.com (localhost [127.0.0.1])
 by sonicstatus.com (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28E8tlYp030735
 for <motd@lists.sonic.net>; Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:47 -0700
Received: (from apache@localhost)
 by sonicstatus.com (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) id 28E8tlk8030734;
Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:55:47 -0700

These headers are in reverse order (the newest is at the top). This particular series shows the message was generated at 1:55:47 am this morning. The newest header shows it landed in my mailbox at 1:55:55 am (about eight seconds later). Each "Received:" header shows the which particular server touched it each time.

Here's another set, for an email sent from an external source on Monday:

Code: Select all

Received: from b.mx.sonic.net (a.spam-proxy.sonic.net [157.131.224.145])
	by a.local-delivery (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28CJCmbm024853
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT);
	Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:12:48 -0700
Received: from a.mail-forward.sonic.net (a.mail-forward.sonic.net [184.23.169.21])
	by b.mx.sonic.net (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28CJCkgk000627
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT);
	Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:12:47 -0700
Received: from a.local-delivery (a.spam-proxy.sonic.net [157.131.224.145])
	by a.mail-forward.sonic.net (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTP id 28CJCkoK4150978;
	Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:12:46 -0700
Received: from f.mx.sonic.net (a.spam-proxy.sonic.net [157.131.224.145])
	by a.local-delivery (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28CJCk4T024575
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT)
	for <ae5fe2e6700623a10a6874ae5816abcc@lds.sonic.net>; Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:12:46 -0700
Received: from outbound-relay5.guardedhost.com (outbound-relay5.guardedhost.com [216.239.133.205])
	by f.mx.sonic.net (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 28CJCiKT042524
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NOT)
	for <deleted@deleted>; Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:12:45 -0700
Received: from mail.guardedhost.com (tev-mail-relay2.omnis.com [IPv6:2607:fe90:1:1::139])
	by outbound-relay5.guardedhost.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4MRGSr0wYvzkGt
	for <deleted@deleted>; Mon, 12 Sep 2022 19:12:43 +0000 (GMT)
Received: from staff (107-131-120-52.lightspeed.sntcca.sbcglobal.net [107.131.120.52])
	(Authenticated sender: sender@example.com)
	by mail.guardedhost.com (Postfix) with ESMTPA id 4MRGSp4DDszyQy
	for <deleted@deleted>; Mon, 12 Sep 2022 19:12:42 +0000 (GMT)
This one shows the sender initiated the email at 12:12:42 pm (PDT) on Monday, and it landed in my mailbox at 12:12:48 pm.

If you look at the "Received:" headers for your granddaughter's email, you should be able to see which server held onto it. Perhaps that server was processing a bunch of email and got bogged down.
by bettyb » Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:31 pm
Thank you for the quick response. I did look at it as you suggested but have no idea what it all means. There is a lot of gobble-de-gook in there but as far as I can make out the message went directly from att yahoo to sonic. Couldn't find any time line. It has happened before and, I suppose, will happen again. Now that I know how and what to look for perhaps I'll figure it out down the line.

Thanks again.
by virtualmike » Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:36 pm
My experience has shown that ATT/Yahoo mail servers tend to be rather busy, meaning that mail stacks up and gets delayed.
by bettyb » Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:43 pm
That may well be it. Unfortunate.
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