Graeme, Separating your email address from your ISP is important for several reasons.
If your email is owned by your ISP, you have created a major reason to not move ISPs, even if there are better options available to you. Broadband options are only going to increase, and it won't help to see a great new broadband offer if you can't take it up without disrupting your email. Changing email address takes a while, you need to have the old and new operating together and give people some time to make the change, so best to get it organised well before changing ISP. If you run a business, it presents a much better image if you use your business domain for your email - an ISP based email address may create a bad impression. Getting your own domain based email is inexpensive. Register a domain with a domain registrar - a fee of between $10-25/yr will get you a domain from a good registrar (although some charge a lot more than this). Most domain registrars offer fairly cheap email hosting services, although they may be quite basic and not include spam/virus filtering features. If you are prepared to find out how to create your own MX records (some domain registrars offer a DNS Hosting service to enable this, others do it for free), you can use Google Apps Standard Edition. This is a free service from Google that gives you full strength Gmail (7Gb mailbox, 20Mb message sizes, POP/IMAP), Calendar and Docs accounts at your domain e.g [email protected] Google Apps: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html Setting up MX records - US registrars: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=140034 General MX setup: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=48242 Google Apps Standard Edition is a great service. Note Google also offer a Premium edition that costs $50/yr per account - for that you get a 25Gb mailbox size rather than 7Gb, and access to a support line. The Standard edition works fine - Google's sign up process is designed to entice you to the Premium, so don't get distracted if you just want Standard. Glenn Nicholas OM4 :: 2009/12/30 Graeme Winters <[email protected]>: > Hi David > You raise an interesting point with gmail > I have been a long standing iinet user and while I do not have a problem > with them I just feel that separating my ISP from my email may be in my best > interests in the longer term > I use their voip system so my calls are bundled with my internet service > Do others see a benefit in separating the 2 functions? > Graeme > On 30/12/2009, at 7:58 PM, David Noel wrote: > > Hi Brett -- > > -- I've been meaning to put in a message about all the virtues of using > gmail. I haven't put the necessary thought into this as yet, but here is an > instance where it could be good for you. > > -- When you have set up a gmail account, you can ask it to check your other > email accounts (obviously you have to tell it your passwords for these) and > to forward on these messages to your gmail account. If you want, it will > then delete these messages from the other account. > > -- Most of the other advantages of gmail are the extensive free space > available (currently 7.4 Gb for each user), which with message labelling and > whole-of-area search means you never have to worry about email backups or > deletes again. You can send messages to yourself with data files attached, > as aquick backup of your current working file, scan of your passport, etc, > these are then permanently available anywhere in the world. HTH. > > Cheers -- > > David Noel > 2009 Dec 30 > > ============ > > On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Brett Carboni <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> Hi all, I'm thinking of changing from Bigpond to TPG but my >> "bigpond.net.au" email address is over 10 years old and I don't want to lose >> contacts. >> >> I am trying to get a nominal account which will let me keep this active. >> >> Does anyone know of an emailing program which will let you address an >> email to everyone in your Mail.app database so you can do a bulk mail out >> saying you have changed your email address? >> >> T.I.A. >> >> Brett >> Tsunami >> >> >> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]> >> > > > > > ________________________________ > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]> > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]>
