Do you have Windows Defender and/or any third party antivirus suites running on the SmarterMail server? I have seen similar behaviors in the past when an antivirus application begins scanning attachments as they're queried by the user. Defender and some third party AV apps do a cloud based submission which can take a little longer to complete as well which can lead to that download timing out or failing.
Kyle Kerst
Acting IT Manager
SmarterTools Inc.
www.smartertools.com