Question : Can't access Exchange 2003 OWA from Internet

Hi.

I've inherited an Exchange 2003 SP2 server (running under W2K3), and I'm trying to fix an issues pertaining to accessing OWA from outside the local company network--I'd like people to be able to get to e-mail from a browser, as well as sync mailboxes to their Windows Mobile phones.

Here's the deal:

Currently, OWA seems to work like a champ when you hit it from inside the office. However, when you try to use it from the Internet, all is not well.

I know the mail server Web site is reachable via the Internet on a rudimentary level, because if you point to the public URL you get the standard IIS "Under Construction" page. Add the \exchange modifier, and as expected, you are prompted for a OWA login.

However, here are the problems:

1. The authentication seems to be taking place through standard HTTP port 80. Does this mean passwords are being sent in the clear? Should this not be SSL port 443 for security reasons?

2. When you access OWA via IE 8 you get a login prompt, but the mailbox username and password are always rejected-- the login prompt simply appears again. (I haven't tried earlier versions of IE because I don't have them handy, and probably wouldn't want to use them anyway.)

3. Interestingly, when you access OWA via the Chrome browser, it USUALLY works-- however, as often as not-- and this is the really weird part-- after providing login info, the browser goes blank and the address bar displays the server's pseudo top-level domain name (i.e. servername.companyname.local).

I assume these problems have something to do with authentication settings in the OWA web site configuration, but while I've checked out IIS on the server in question, I don't really know enough about those settings to be sure of what I'm looking at.

Anybody have an suggestions on what I should do to get OWA working reliably, securely, and with IE 8?  

Answer : Can't access Exchange 2003 OWA from Internet

Hey d2fox.
Sorry for not posting anything on this issue for over a week.

I found this ASP.net BPA
Can you run this utility and see what results you get.

http://www.codeplex.com/wikipage?ProjectName=BPAEngine