Message Length Issues and SMTP Performance

[bfittes1]

Two items related to NotePager Pro:

First, I was doing some testing this morning on 3 different carriers, one set up as SNPP with message length 240, the other two as SMTP with message lengths of 120 and 150. I created a message of length 266. The SNPP carrier received only 1 message that appeared to be truncated about 240 characters. The carrier of length 120 received 3 messages, that also appear to be truncated at 240 (total of the 3). And the carrier of length 150 received two messages that also appeared to be truncated at 240 total. So, is 240 a system limit for a message, and if so, why would it let me create one longer than that?

Second, the two SMTP carriers had very different processing times in NPP. One processed messages very quickly, the other spent much more time in two steps: preparing and sending. The slow one happened to be Verizon Wireless. Any insight into processing differences?

Thanks,

Barry

[Tech Support]

The character limit is an option you can set in the settings for the recipient. By default, the Max Chars field is set to 240. If you want it higher, just set it to a value higher than 240.

As for the slowness, it's because Verizon's mail servers have a built in lag time higher than almost any other carrier I've seen. I've been given three different reasons for this by three different Verizon Techs:

1) It's a temporary slowdown to due a high volume of Spam/DOS attacks on their system.

2) It's a preventative measure to prevent Spam/DOS attacks.

3) They don't know why.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[bfittes1]

Got it on Verizon.

On the message length thing, after pondering and testing a bit, it looks to me like NPP uses CARRIER Max Chars to determine how long a message it can send to the carrier, and uses that value to packetize the messages into receivable messages.

And it uses RECIPIENT Max Chars to determine how long a message can be sent to any recipient, regardless of the CARRIER limitation, and will truncate the message that is entered so as not to exceed that limit, correct?

Have I got it right?

[Tech Support]

That's correct. If you didn't want the messages to be 'clipped' at 240 and send in multiple packets, you'd set the carrier Max Chars to higher than 240 and the recipient Max Chars to whatever you like. You've got the right idea.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[bfittes1]

Thanks! Most helpful. The documentation that I scanned doesn't seem to be that clear on this point. Got it now.

Barry