[Discuss] OT - Mail Server Speeds

[Alex Pennace]

On Thu, Oct 01, 2020 at 10:04:57PM -0400, epp at mcom.com wrote:
> Is it possible for a service provider to slow down the response times
> from their servers?

It is possible for a service provider to deliberately add additional
response latency (wait a little bit before sending a response). But it
is far more likely that increases in latency are simply due to
underprovisioning the systems involved.

> When connecting to either Yahoo's or AOL's IMAP servers, the response
> time has been extremely slow as of late. SMTP has been fine.
> 
> Yahoo now has oversight of the AOL Mail service and they may be located
> in California now.
> 
> In comparison, speeds to and from other providers' servers, have been
> fine.

Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, and Yahoo's assets[1] in 2017, wrapping
up both in a subsidiary named Oath. I'm sure someone can come up with
a giant list of things Verizon is doing wrong. For my part, I was
actually a happy user of AOL IM and Yahoo Groups until they shut those
down (true, Yahoo Groups still distributes email, but the archives are
gone and I doubt one can newly subscribe to any existing group).

Verizon management has demonstrated an indifference to users of legacy
services. It is reasonable to presume that this indifference is
afflicting these IMAP services. They may be underprovisioned,
undersupported, and not terribly important to The Powers That Be.

What does the future hold? Will Verizon/Oath maintain Yahoo or AOL
mail indefinitely? Will they force users to migrate from one domain to
the other, or to a third domain? Service providers deprecate services
all the time, but Verizon has demonstrated a willingness to be
exceptionally disruptive in the process. Now is the time to consider
your exit strategy should Verizon discontinue a service you depend on
-- particularly if it is a service that is costly to migrate (such as
telling everyone of a new email address).

[1] As in, Verizon acquired almost everything about Yahoo, including
the name, but the old Yahoo corporation lived on. This entity named
itself Altaba (remember, it sold the Yahoo name), sold its remaining
assets, distributed a giant dividend in 2019, and is in the process of
wrapping up its dissolution and declaring a final dividend. So will
end a chapter of Internet history.

-- 
Alex Pennace, alex at pennace.org