Push email failures -- an iOS 6 thing?

[sch11]

I have "push" enabled for my Exchange email account. I don't receive new email alerts for the account anymore. I have to open Mail app manually and then wait a second or two for the phone to connect to the server. I've been reading this is an iOS 6 issue -- is that right?

When I got the phone a few days ago, I was getting new mail alerts, including when the phone was locked. When I changed the fetch schedule to check my Gmail account more frequently, push for my Exchange account started failing. Any thoughts on what may be going on here?

It's an iPhone 5 running iOS 6. I haven't tried deleting the Exchange account and restoring it, although I have disabled and re-enabled it.

 

[brand]

I haven't tried deleting the Exchange account and restoring it, although I have disabled and re-enabled it.

Delete the Exchange ActiveSync account you created and then add it again.

It would have made sense to do that prior to making a thread saying that you didn't do that.

What version of Exchange is on the server? Is it fully patched?

 

[sch11]

What version of Exchange is on the server? Is it fully patched?

No idea what version of Exchange is on the server. I assume it's fully patched, though.

I haven't deleted the account because I wanted to preserve my cache of emails for each of my folders. I'll probably try though, since it sounds like it could be at least a temporary fix.

Is this an issue all users experience periodically?

 

[brand]

No idea what version of Exchange is on the server. I assume it's fully patched, though.

I haven't deleted the account because I wanted to preserve my cache of emails for each of my folders. I'll probably try though, since it sounds like it could be at least a temporary fix.

Is this an issue all users experience periodically?

I have probably setup 30 iPhones that are on iOS 6 with Exchange ActiveSync and none of them are having this problem.

 

[sch11]

That's a lot of setups. How would you say iPhones compare with Blackberries as Exchange clients? I seem to get notifications a bit later on the iPhone than I did on BB, and it seems to just drop off the server altogether occasionally (in areas where service isn't great).

Also, deleting the account seems to have worked, so you were right that I should have tried that. I'm still interested to hear whether many others have this issue, though. Wouldn't want to have to delete and reenter my Exchange account info twice a week.

 

[caesarp]

I have "push" enabled for my Exchange email account. I don't receive new email alerts for the account anymore. I have to open Mail app manually and then wait a second or two for the phone to connect to the server. I've been reading this is an iOS 6 issue -- is that right?

When I got the phone a few days ago, I was getting new mail alerts, including when the phone was locked. When I changed the fetch schedule to check my Gmail account more frequently, push for my Exchange account started failing. Any thoughts on what may be going on here?

It's an iPhone 5 running iOS 6. I haven't tried deleting the Exchange account and restoring it, although I have disabled and re-enabled it.

This is a huge known issue that apple is trying to fix. It is an issue with LTE running on iPhone 5 (so ios 6 is implicated). All "fixes" are temporary. Any reboot or toggle of airplane mode etc. will work to temp fix this (for anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple days) until a real fix comes from apple. Workarounds include turning off LTE and or using fetch every 15 minutes. A thread on this can be found in apple support forums here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4345374?start=0&tstart=0

 

[sch11]

Thanks, caesarp, I'll try disabling LTE. Could you repost the link to the thread on the Apple site? It didn't come through in your post.

Edit: I can see the link now - thanks.

 

[caesarp]

I have probably setup 30 iPhones that are on iOS 6 with Exchange ActiveSync and none of them are having this problem.

It only affects iphone 5. This is a real and known issue. Redoing exchange account will only provide a short term solution. The 30 phones u set up may have this issue but not known to user if they check for mail regularly. Or u may not have set up iphone 5s.

 

[sch11]

Caesarp, when you say it's an issue Apple's trying to fix, does that mean they've acknowledged it? Have they posted an issue report or anything like that?

Also, how were you able to find out disabling LTE fixes the problem?

 

[caesarp]

Caesarp, when you say it's an issue Apple's trying to fix, does that mean they've acknowledged it? Have they posted an issue report or anything like that?

Also, how were you able to find out disabling LTE fixes the problem?

In the link I provided above, sys admins report that apple engineers have acknowledged the issue and are working on a fix with no eta. Others have reported turning off LTE worked. However it could also be a temp fix. I have noticed spontaneous working of exchange push when LTE is out in my area (and phone shows 3G instead of LTE in status indicator).

 

[sch11]

Thanks again. I guess I may have to have my shiny iPhone 5 replaced if there's no ETA. Oh well.

 

[caesarp]

Thanks again. I guess I may have to have my shiny iPhone 5 replaced if there's no ETA. Oh well.

An ios 6 update is rumored by the end of October. Maybe wait a few weeks.

 

[brand]

That's a lot of setups. How would you say iPhones compare with Blackberries as Exchange clients?

I can not say because thankfully our Blackberry Enterprise Server was decommissioned right before I hired on. We currently have 170+ plus iOS devices on our AT&T Business Direct account.

The 30 phones u set up may have this issue but not known to user if they check for mail regularly. Or u may not have set up iphone 5s.

That is a valid point. We currently have 6 iPhone 5s so it is not a large sampling.

 

[scaredpoet]

There's about a dozen iPhones using Exchange ActiveSync for e-mail in the small department where I work (we have a mix of iOS, Android, one Blackberry holdout, and a WebOS holdout who just ditched his Palm Pre for an iPhone 5, finally). I have iOS6 running on the iOS devices, a mix of iPads, iPhone 5 and 4/4S models. All have been working consistently fine for push e-mail, no need for resets. The iPads and 4/4S devices were upgraded OTA, and only one 5 was setup fresh; the rest were restores from their owners' previous 4/4S backups.

Beyond my department, there's about 15,000 employees in various other departments/locations for this same organization, with a mix of Android, iOS and Blackberries, all using Exchange. We have support channels to comapre notes if any IT staff notice issues, and so far there's been no mention of this.

Maybe it's something about how we configured and update our servers. Who knows?

That's a lot of setups. How would you say iPhones compare with Blackberries as Exchange clients? I seem to get notifications a bit later on the iPhone than I did on BB, and it seems to just drop off the server altogether occasionally (in areas where service isn't great).

In my case, as far as push speed goes, it's a wash. Sometimes our remaining Blackberry user gets e-mail notifications a fraction of a second quicker; other times the iPhones get it a fraction of a second quicker.

One thing is for sure: Blackberry devices require more middleware, additional server infrastructure, and added cost in order to get them to work directly through BES (as opposed to BIS which kinda negates the advantages of push).

From an objective IT standpoint (and coming from a former Blackberry user, long ago), it's added burden with increasingly little justification for that added burden. Where I work, we're certainly having a hard time justifying running a whole extra server for one Blackberry user, even if they are pretty high up the totem pole.

Also, the "better security" argument that RIM flaunts stopped holding water back when the 3GS came out, with its support for MS Exchange integration with encryption. Now, having to route all traffic through Waterloo seems more of a liability and a single point of failure, than a benefit.

 

[sch11]

An ios 6 update is rumored by the end of October. Maybe wait a few weeks.

Oh, great. I have a vacation coming up for part of that time, too, so maybe this will get sorted out and I can keep the iPhone. It's obviously way better in every other way than my old BB.

scaredpoet - thanks for that post, interesting stuff. Other than the security and speed, which may not actually be benefits at all, as you noted, one other thing that the BB had was the LED indicator. It's a great way of knowing to check email if you've been away from the phone or miss the original alert for whatever reason. There's no LED on the iPhone, obviously, but maybe there's a way to get a reminder beep for unread email? I've seen this feature on other phones, but I can't find anything like it for iPhones, in the native settings or via a third party app.

 

[caesarp]

There's about a dozen iPhones using Exchange ActiveSync for e-mail in the small department where I work (we have a mix of iOS, Android, one Blackberry holdout, and a WebOS holdout who just ditched his Palm Pre for an iPhone 5, finally). I have iOS6 running on the iOS devices, a mix of iPads, iPhone 5 and 4/4S models. All have been working consistently fine for push e-mail, no need for resets. The iPads and 4/4S devices were upgraded OTA, and only one 5 was setup fresh; the rest were restores from their owners' previous 4/4S backups.

Beyond my department, there's about 15,000 employees in various other departments/locations for this same organization, with a mix of Android, iOS and Blackberries, all using Exchange. We have support channels to comapre notes if any IT staff notice issues, and so far there's been no mention of this.

Maybe it's something about how we configured and update our servers. Who knows?



In my case, as far as push speed goes, it's a wash. Sometimes our remaining Blackberry user gets e-mail notifications a fraction of a second quicker; other times the iPhones get it a fraction of a second quicker.

One thing is for sure: Blackberry devices require more middleware, additional server infrastructure, and added cost in order to get them to work directly through BES (as opposed to BIS which kinda negates the advantages of push).

From an objective IT standpoint (and coming from a former Blackberry user, long ago), it's added burden with increasingly little justification for that added burden. Where I work, we're certainly having a hard time justifying running a whole extra server for one Blackberry user, even if they are pretty high up the totem pole.

Also, the "better security" argument that RIM flaunts stopped holding water back when the 3GS came out, with its support for MS Exchange integration with encryption. Now, having to route all traffic through Waterloo seems more of a liability and a single point of failure, than a benefit.

Unsophisticated users may not notice this. They may not have notifications turned on either.

 

[scaredpoet]

Unsophisticated users may not notice this. They may not have notifications turned on either.

You don't know me, or my users. And yes, notifications are turned on.

 

[caesarp]

You don't know me, or my users. And yes, notifications are turned on.

Also if they reboot or turn off phone or change certain settings or only get 3G or frequently check mail it can mask this issue. How many iphone 5 users are there in your org? Take one iphone 5 and send exchange mail (with push not fetch enabled) to it periodically over 3 or more days without changing any settings or rebooting during that entire time AND LTE on and connected the entire time. See if alerts or banners happen or if exchange mail is only obtained with mail app opened after a while.

Note that alerts are not affected for hotmail set up as exchange or for other push enabled accounts. This affects only corporate outlook accounts.

 

[scaredpoet]

one other thing that the BB had was the LED indicator. It's a great way of knowing to check email if you've been away from the phone or miss the original alert for whatever reason. There's no LED on the iPhone, obviously, but maybe there's a way to get a reminder beep for unread email? I've seen this feature on other phones, but I can't find anything like it for iPhones, in the native settings or via a third party app.

None that I know of. By and large though, I've found that a single blinking LED is not worth sacrificing a good web browser, modern interface, integration with my car, apps, and everything else I can do with with my iPhone. If I want to see if I have any emails, I can hit the power button and find out. And it'll even tell me if the email is worth responding to, or if it can wait, which I find superior to acting on a blinking light by default every time.

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Also if they reboot or turn off phone or change certain settings or only get 3G or frequently check mail it can mask this issue.

....okay?

 

[sch11]

None that I know of. By and large though, I've found that a single blinking LED is not worth sacrificing a good web browser, modern interface, integration with my car, apps, and everything else I can do with with my iPhone.

Agreed (as I indicated above).

If I want to see if I have any emails, I can hit the power button and find out. And it'll even tell me if the email is worth responding to, or if it can wait, which I find superior to acting on a blinking light by default every time.

I'd say the lock screen notification summary and the LED alert/notification reminder tone are separate features. Personally, I prefer the LED alert feature to the lock screen notification summary. The LED alert tells you that you need to pick up the phone in the first place. Without it, you have to check the device all the time.

Once you've picked up the device and pressed a button, figuring out whether something actionable's come in doesn't take long on either device (imo). And usually, I want to see whatever has come in and mark it read as soon as it arrives. (So when I have something something new, I want to unlock and open the mail client in almost every case.) But I don't like having to pick up and interact with the device every time I've been away for a few minutes. It's great not having to do that, and the notification summary on the lock screen doesn't really help with this.

 

[caesarp]

6.1 appears to have fixed this - why is it a secret?

Not mentioned in official 6.1 release notes. Why is Apple hiding an important exchange push email fix from the general public?