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.
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;
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)
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.