DavidR
4
I think that this is more likely to have been an issue with a dns server, otherwise it would be in a consistent state if avast were installed.
The only time avast uses its own (or specific dns server) is when using the SafeZone and I guess you/they weren’t trying to ping from within the safezone.
I think what really needs investigating are the intermittent problems (e.g. full error messages, etc.) as if there was an issue with the ISP’s dns server and pop.virgin.net then presumably that would also reflect in the ability to send and receive email to that IP.
I have one email account from my old ISP Tesco and that email is handled by virginmedia.net email servers; I didn’t know that until it appeared in the avast SSL Accounts section and not Tesco.net. There is no Tesco entry in my SSL Accounts and only virginmedia.net, yet that works just fine.
You could also try setting their DNS server to that of OpenDNS.