Not sure if 2003 has OWA, may not ~work~ but you could try

https://mail.companyname.com.au/exchange

and see if OWA is setup.

Check your phone "APN" also, as you may have a corporate APN setup with the likes of telstra which gives you some internal/extra connectivity on your mobile via this custom APN.

(the address was undocumented at work, but messing around trying to figure out how to access Out of Office assistant I eventual found the default "/exchange" address was enabled on the mail domain, As well as office Communicator server =], so have work communicator on the Iphone now also.

Believe work are upgrading to Microsoft Lynx eventually as well as crap loads of other improvements to work at home/mobile which are much needed.

I have tried the Outlook settings and https/exchange settings thing. I actually knew this one because I've done it at previous jobs. But no go here.

I should have added I'm not yet on the company network fully as such. Brand new office set up. So currently I just have a standard business broadband account with a standard Cisco modem. Which is why I RDP for our other stuff, I can also use email this way but its annoying as we have lots of product data sheets and rendering PDF's is a pain. But we use Goldmine CRM so it all links nicely this way.

They tell me I am getting a draytek modem which will see me permanently VPN'd. So this will mean I don't have to connect manually all the time I guess when at the office. However when travelling or working from home it would be great to to have to worry about it.

As for the iPhone settings APN I haven't seen anything but again I can add that while the iPhone is work supplied my iPad is personal. I just copied the settings and emails came in.

Nah, on Exchange 2003 RPC isn't configured by default.

You need to set it up manually, this detailed guide covers everything. Or just get an IT guy that has a clue

http://www.petri.co.il/how-can-i-configure-rpc-over-https-on-exchange-2003-single-server-scenario.htm

On vpn's yes a little, but its dependent on "how long is a piece of string"

Let me guess its a PPTP VPN

2. VPN use - this one is much more straightforward. Does VPN slow you down? Or is it dependant on other things? I notice that my direct connection is good but it's my impression that when on VPN and I need to RDP as well things slow down. As in general internet use and RDP.

Only for certain things. 100% make sure your RDP settings on your local machine have this checkbox disabled:
If i you set it up on windows using the inbuilt VPN connection thingy

Right click on the VPN connection
-> Properties
-> Click the Networking Tab
-> if possible uncheck tcp/ipv6 and then click ipv4 and click properties
-> Click advanced
-> UNCHECK "Use default gateway on remote network".

That will speed up your connection a little while you're connected on the VPN.

(PS mostly assuming that you only use it for mail and RDP)

edit: if stuff stops working set it back. But it should only need to be setup so that you can connect to things on the (now) "local" network, not for things on the internet

oh right they're switching out the cisco which is in your office for a draytek, not at your home (that's how i understood it when i first read it)

as for your iphone and ipad not needing the vpn connection settings like your laptop does, does this work regardless of if they're using 3/4G when you're anywhere in coverage or connected to wifi on the cisco modem in your office if the auto connect to prefered network is on and they're in range? that cisco might already have the vpn settings in it if so.

If the emails work fine on the iphone/iPad (both wifi and 3g) should be no reason the same exchange settings on a pc shouldn't work also.

When you say access locally on the laptop, is this whilst in the office, e.g. on the work network? Or from home or another external location?

VPN's are used to connect you into a network that you're not directly connected to, common practise for remote working. Any network with security requirements will probably use something more secure then standard PPTP, like RSA token or similar.

RDP is terminal services (TS) and essentially creates you a virtual desktop on a TS server located in the work network where you can do everything, like Outlook, locally. Presuming you're not RDP'ing to a desktop. A lot of places do thin client setups so it's all TS server based.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) and RPC (Outlook connecting to exchange via https instead of local) have gotten loads better in recent versions though, 2010 and 2013 are ace. So using that is a lot more common place now then VPN + Outlook connecting to local server.

If you're VPN'ing whilst in the office, then that's defo retarded, unless there's legit multiple networks and they haven't done network-level routing for some reason. Which would also be retarded.

Otherwise doesn't sound that strange, small company, old software/equip, haven't bothered to config the other remote access options.

iPhone/iPad is a different mail client and will connect via IMAP or their Exchange protocol which essentially uses OWA/HTTPS access to the exchange. Both of which are different to how Outlook connects to a local exchange server, though as mentioned you can configure Outlook to connect via HTTPS if it's setup (RPC).

Yeah and I'm not 100% on this one, but I think the mobile devices (iPhone) all use ActiveSync which essentially just uses Exchange via Web Services (basically OWA access).

Edit: If you've chosen their 'Exchange' feature and not done a custom IMAP or POP3 setup, which also works but uses different access again. I think your exchange server needs IMAP to be enabled server-side, not sure if it is by default, might be.