John,

Is the Outlook associated to the VPN connection. For example, are you using
your works Outlook and then using VPN to connect to their network to be able
to use the full client Outlook. The reason I ask is because of your
question if the Outlook is sensitive to network limitations. There are
various times of network configuration but lets address the issue with VPN.
What I commonly see with VPN and Outlook is that the connection is not
strong enough to allow for a strong network connection. This will happen if
sinning VPN over dial-up or on wireless, even though your connection shows
strong it can "drop packets" causing small but noticeable connectivity
issues with Outlook.

One thing to note this can be Outlook or a VPN issue or even a network
issues. The following may of assistance.
First directly connect to your cable or DSL modem to ensure a stronger
connection. Test to see if the helps doing the send/receive

If not, check to make sure the send/receive option is setup correctly. If
yes, rename you offline file .ost to .ost1 to force Outlook to create a new
one .ost file.

Still and issue- I would check your VPN setup a new one may need to be
created but typically this is more of a network latency or Outlook issues,
to make sure it is functioning properly.

Finally, if all the above is checked may need to create Outlook profile.

Hope this helps for at least a beginning step - there are lot items
mentioned because of there are various possible issues that can cause it.

Also, make sure your Outlook is not offline on Outlook 2003 - in bottom
right-hand corner.

Regards,

--
Francine Otterson
President, San Diego Outlook User Group
"John Richardson" wrote in message
...
no takers?

"John Richardson" wrote in message
...
When I have at VPN connection open, I'm finding that Outlook refuses to
send any email out. How do I fix this (besides closing my VPN connection
each time I want to send/receive!)

As a side note:
I've noticed other gimpiness with it too relating to packet
fragmentation, where my mail would bounce for no reason. I had to change
my MTU to fix that. Why is Outlook seemingly so sensitive to network
configuration? Outlook Express does not seem to have these limitations.
Is this some kind of negative feature introduced with this version of the
product? Should I go back to my older version? I don't use most of the
fancy features anyways.