head scratcher or am I missing something obvious

[Cathy]

well .. the short version is it was a firewall issue.

He was simply slamming the server with many multiple connections and getting blocked (even though many many emails ago I said that will get him blocked).

I seriously thought I was missing something huge, for him to be having this issue. Realising it is (or can be) something very simple is a lesson learned.

Thanks all for your input it is much appreciated.