Running OL2003 SP2, fully up to date.

I have multiple computers connected to a 1 Gb router and have a broadband
cable Internet connection.

(I have searched through the posts here but the closest I found was messages
stuck in the Outbox and that does not apply to me.)

Problem: This is an intermittent problem. I create a 2 Mb or maybe a 4 Mb
file (MPG or something) and send it by right-clicking the file and then
selecting Send to.... Mail Recipient. The file appears in the Outbox and
the status bar shows it as being sent. This will display for many minutes,
even on a 0.5 Mb file. Then the detailed status message will show that the
message was not sent because of an SMTP time-out. However, in many cases
the recipient DID get the file. If I walk away from the computer and let
Outlook do as it pleases, it will send the file MANY times to the recipient
but each time it stays in the outbox due to an SMTP time-out error - hence
Outlook tries to send it again.

- There is no "load" from other activity on my Internet connection when this
happens.

- I have disabled BitDefender and there is no difference. On my laptop,
the same problem has occurred and it runs Norton AV.

- I do not use my laptop in a mobile manner so I do not know if it would
happen on another Internet connection.

- Sometimes it happens late at night, and sometimes in the middle of the
day.

- To the best of my knowledge my Internet connection is robust.

SO.... Is there a time-out setting that I should be adjusting?

Why though would it report it as not sent, but send multiple copies?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Paul