This is probably being caused by DNS timeout trying to reverse-lookup the connecting IP. Check that your resolver (/etc/resolv.conf) is set correctly and responding to e.g. "dig -x [IP-address]" queries in a timely manner. If you are using DHCP, note that /etc/resolv.conf may be automatically created by the network setup scripts so manual edits may not "stick". On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 8:39 AM, Gregory P. Ennis <PoMec at pomec.net> wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Bart, Thanks for your help. It smells like a DNS problem to me as well in particular I can fix the problem with a statement in the access file like Connect:10.0.0.186 RELAY When I checked reverse look up using 'dig -x [ip] I am not having any problems, and /etc/resolv.conf on the mail server is set where it is supposed to be 127.0.0.1 ; I have also tried pointing this to other dns servers, and I get the same problem. I have expanded the log file entry to : define(`confLOG_LEVEL', `29')dnl But this does not give me any more information other than there is a clear delay between the time of connecting and the time the sendmail banner is produced by the mail server. I am also not seeing any problem in the named.log file. Greg Ennis