-- when I talked to Shaw, they said that "cannot communic...

[mdk]

@prjlnw -- when I talked to Shaw, they said that "cannot communicate" is a system-wide problem that they know about, and are trying to fix.  It seems like Shaw's WebMail server is failing to connect with Shaw's "authentication" server, intermittently.

It does not seem to matter what hardware you have (iPad or Lenovo desktop) and which web-browser (Chrome? Edge? Safari? Firefox?) that you are using.

[mhoen]

It is now 20Feb23 and the problem is unchanged - on again, off again connectivity.  Using Incognito Mode in Chrome always works. 

[mdk]

@mhoen -- Using Incognito Mode in Chrome always works. 

Could the reason be that this mode does not allow "cookies" to be saved within Chrome ?

If you try an "InPrivate" window within Microsoft Edge, does it work?

[prjlnw]

Could be the temporary solution.

I discovered, through trial and error, that when Shaw Webmail refused to respond all I had to do to fix it, was go into the privacy and security settings for Chrome/Edge navigate to "site settings" then find "view permissions and data stored across sites" and then clear all data for "wm-so.glb.shawcable.net". This clears cookies and other data for the specific site but leaves the data for other sites intact. InPrivate mode doesn't store this data to begin with so it's the same effect.

I'm guessing that Chrome is storing something in the cookies that Shaw's authentication server isn't expecting which results in a communication error.

[Davlin]

I can't open my email. It looks like I am not alone, What is going on?

[mdk]

@Davlin -- welcome to this peer-to-peer discussion forum, where volunteers try to help.

Please read this whole thread to answer your "what is going on" question.

There are other discussion threads asking about the "unable to connect" message. Please read those threads, also.

For me, when I see the message (which is much more rare today than it was in 2022), another "click" on "Sign In" is sufficient for a successful connection.