so i've been trying to get my winlink setup going for emergency stuff but having issues with the RMS gateways. seems like half the time when i try to connect it just sits there and times out. im using a ic-7300 with the built in sound card interface running winlink express on windows 10. packet connection works fine for other stuff but winlink is being a pain. anyone else seeing timeouts lately or am i doing something wrong with my setup?

What freq you trying and which RMS? Some of the gateways have been flaky lately, especially the HF ones during the day when propagation is weird. Try switching to a different gateway or maybe try VHF packet if you have a TNC. Also check your audio levels - if theyre too hot it can cause connect issues even though it sounds fine to you.

I had similar problems with my 7300 setup until I realized the USB audio was set to 48khz instead of 44.1. Winlink Express can be picky about sample rates. Also make sure youre not running any other audio programs at the same time because windows loves to mess with exclusive mode access to the sound card. Been rock solid since I fixed those two things.