Apple Mail fetch repeatedly times out

Question

This is not a specific Lion problem but has continued under Lion, it's related to Apple Mail. On each of our 4 Macs our mail fetch from our ISP frequently times out  on all POP email accounts, repeatedly asking for a password even though the password is clearly stored in Mail preferences and Keychain. Sometimes I find that the POP email passwords are deleted from Mail, although they are always there in the Keychain. It only happens with POP, not IMAP etc. Needless to say our ISP has been vague and unhelpful. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Even if it happens from outside their network, your mail still uses the same settings for servers and ports as to what you put into the settings. So, it's still routed through them regardless of the network your on. That why I suggested it may be the cause. Like I said, the same problem went on with ATT for many months.
There were many thoughts also on how mac mail was talking to the ISP, but in my case wasn't the problem. If you open up connection doctor in mail and test the connections from time to time, it failed in many cases. Sometimes, it failed constantly.
And since you've said it happens outside your network, that should eliminate your router.
So, you may want to talk with your ISP support group and ask them if they are making any changes to ports or servers. And if you haven't, check their website and search for mail server and port settings for mac to make sure you have the latest.
And I do understand that it's probably a wasted effort because most of the time they won't know what's going on.
I feel your pain.