My iMac won't load email email until after I have been on it 10 minutes or more. The carrier says it is not them it it my computer. Help please.

Question

My iMac computer won't load my email from the local carrier until I have been on the computer at least 10 minutes.  They say it is not them.  It is Apple.  Any suggestions?  Thanks!

Answer 1

First of all, rule out a network problem:
Run a speed test via Safari. You can use http://www.speedtest.net  
In order for your emails to load within a few seconds, you'll need an internet connection of 1MB p/s or faster. Anything slower than that may cause the connection to the email server to time out.
If your connection checks out, try setting up your email address in a new user account. Sign out, and then sign into Guest. Set up your email there. If it's still slow, then you'll need to test on another computer.
Testing on a Phone or Tablet won't give accurate results, as they use different methods of accessing your email server.
If after tesitng on another computer, the connection is slow, make a back up of your emails and as your provider to clear your inbox on the server end. This will remove emails from your inbox if it's an IMAP account, or they won't be downloadable if it's a POP account.
After they've confirmed that's been done, try sending yourself a test email. Monitor the reaction time.
If all else fails, yell at your ISP