Access to ukgateway email down since Saturday morning

[robink]

My wife's email access (on ukgateway.net domain) stopped at about 10:30 on Saturday morning. I have email via dsl.pipex.com and this is working fine. Both the accounts are registered on the 'Manage TalkTalk email' on our account.

For ukgateway.net, the client (mobile & desktop) access just stopped with server error. Webmail login still works but while the portal is visible, the email section is empty with message "An error occurred. Connection closed to email server 127.0.0.1. Please try again later". 

I see other reports of email server issues on the TalkTalk platform and numerous recent updates from @Gondola - is there any estimated timescale for when this will be fixed, particularly for the ukgateway.net domain?

[Ady-TalkTalk]

Hi robink,  thanks for posting back to let us know it's working. An issue was found and fixed on the servers yesterday.

Ady

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

Excellent news. Yes, the messages accepted for delivery and temporarily parked in a buffer store will be delivered in time to your now restored mailbox. It may take some time as the buffer stores interleave messages back into the normal delivery stream.

[robink]

@Ady-TalkTalk - I forgot to include you on my earlier update. Email via webmail and desktop/mobile client now seems to be working. We are seeing earlier messages arriving in batches & I presume this will happen over the next few hours as the backlog is cleared.

Is this a permanent or temporary fix - i.e. will there be any more downtime in the next week to fix this fully?

[robink]

@Gondola  - email via webmail and desktop/mobile client now seems to be working. We are seeing earlier messages arriving in batches & I presume this will happen over the next few hours as the backlog is cleared.

[robink]

thanks - that's good to know. About 48 hours of downtime so far 🙁

[Gondola]

Eventually...

The platform operator is trying to fix as we speak.

[robink]

I now see that the Service Centre dashboard has been updated to acknowledge there is a known issue with email 

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

I had to mention other members that have no access to some of their mailboxes because my own mailboxes remain fully functioning.  I was initially unaware of the issue. It's my diagnosis that a local mailbox server in Hamburg has a connection fault or a faulty partition. i.e. a hardware fault at the TalkTalk Mail platform operator's data centre.

I'm still awaiting feedback on the issue.

With the opening of TalkTalk's Manchester Customer Service Centre we may well have weekend support in the future as that's an obvious option IMHO.

[robink]

Hi @Gondola  - again, this is all good in terms of member-to-member support. I'm just amazed that a major company doesn't provide updates on a serious issue just because it takes place at a weekend. You mention other members who have helped troubleshoot the incident - do you have any more specifics on what the core issue is?

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

Grateful for your support for the essence of Community which is member to member support. This is a team effort and in this case I must mention the time given by other members to help in troubleshooting the incident.

[robink]

Hi @Gondola - you are an absolute star. I can't believe you are doing all this work voluntarily. I'm not going to get into the fine details of how TalkTalk should manage support except that the current situation seems serious and long-lasting enough to be worthy of being flagged on a public dashboard. On this definition, it probably isn't a Priority 1 issue, but I still think it should be published so users can make their own decisions. Of course if there was a ETA for when it would be fixed, that would be better. Your Current Issues summary is an excellent stop-gap - ideally TT shouldn't have to rely on volunteers to fill the gap!

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

Just to let you know that I've already asked the TalkTalk Support member that responded to my fault call to consider updating the  Service Status (Email) page. It's entirely the decision of TalkTalk management on flagging up service issues. Normally, there has to be a Priority 1 incident declared and this is when service is seriously impacted for the majority of users.

I've tried to ensure email forum users are kept aware of  Current issues here. This is a sticky post at the head of this forum. I hope this fills the gap between personal incidents and Priority 1 incidents. What do you think?

[robink]

A general comment....

I can't understand why the general TalkTalk Dashboard here says there are no problems with email, when the multiple reports on this forum show that there are. This isn't the first time when there is a big discrepancy between the Dashboard and reality. Is the Dashboard status only updated on weekdays? If it wasn't for the volunteer support on this forum, particularly from people like @Gondola, then I wouldn't have a clue whether this was a general issue or something that just affects me.

[robink]

@Gliwmaeden2  - thanks for clarifying. I don't mind and this makes sense - it's just that the notes imply that it is _completely_ private.

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

Private notes are seen by you and only select authorised TalkTalk employees that are TalkTalk Support for our Community. Thanks for completing the notes. The alias email addresses are not needed as these are recognised only by the inbound mail servers that will redirect mail to the master address on the TalkTalk Mail platform.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Actually only visible to Talktalk's professional staff and yourself, @robink.

[robink]

Are the Private Notes in the Personal Information Page accessible by TalkTalk and / or the community moderator? The i next to this section says they are just for my use only?

[robink]

@Gondola - many thanks for your prompt and comprehensive update. I've already added a note in the Personal information section about the impact account - the main account email and the alias email (firstname.lastname) that is normally used. 

[Gondola]

Hi robink 

Good to see your pipex mail is working well. My mailboxes are also working so I'll rely on you to let me know when the Mail platform operator fixes the current issue for your wife's UKGateway mailbox. I have no visibility of work by the platform operator and not currently getting any feedback from TalkTalk.

The error message An error occurred. Connection closed to email server 127.0.0.1. Please try again later or the error message Unable to connect to e-mail server. Possible reasons: The e-mail server is (temporarily) down or there are network connection problems. Please try again in a few minutes.

It's a local issue at the TalkTalk Mail platform and some mailboxes are not being accessed. I've reported the issue to TalkTalk and it's been alerted to the Mail platform operator.

So that TalkTalk Support can co-ordinate the issue of those mailboxes that are on the Mail platform server that is not currently accessible: Would you kindly add, and note the email address that's not accessible, in your Community profile, Private notes - in the My Settings   Personal Information page - at the bottom of the page immediately above the Save Changes button that you'll then need to update the page.