Take my email with me!
Mike wrote recently with the following:
I am looking at a bunch of email options. I would like to set up my own family .com or .net email so if I change cable company's again I will not have to change my email address. I am not sure on how to do that or how much it would cost to do that.
Don't we all feel Mike's pain? It is unfortunate that email addresses provided by our ISP's can't be kept when changing providers. I've experienced this myself. I currently have 4 active email accounts. I keep two personal, one work related, and one Daves Computer Tips related email address. I've switched ISP's and waded through the emails sent to every contact with notifications of the address change. Some reply, some make the change, some don't. I solved my personal email problem by using a gmail account as my primary personal email address.
Mike's problem is actually two separate problems. 1 - He needs a domain name. 2 - he needs a mail server, or some way to receive and access his email. Let's look at each of these problems and their possible solutions.
Domain
I covered domain names in issue #27. If you aren't familiar with the term take a few moments to read the article before proceeding.
Domains are not free, but rented. You must pay a yearly fee to a registrar for use of a domain. Domains range in price from $2(US) to $25(US) per year depending on the registrar and top level domain chosen, but the average is between $8(US) and $10(US). There are many registrars, but I prefer 1and1.com or godaddy.com.
How do I get my email?
Once a domain has been acquired you have to have a way to access the email. This requires an email server and a complicated process involving DNS servers to point the domain to the email server. These two requirements leave you with three choices:
- Build and maintain your own server
- Requires a constant email connection
- Requires specialized software and knowledge
- Requires knowledge of DNS servers and records
- Use a free service such as Gmail
- Requires knowledge of DNS servers and records
- Usually easy setup
- No direct tech support
- No guarantee of service. Taking your business elsewhere doesn't hurt the company or provide an incentive for performance
- May have limited access methods. This means of the three popular access methods (POP3, IMAP, and webmail) your use may be limited to only one or two methods
- May or may not include SPAM filtering
- A complete email solution
- Price includes domain
- Price includes email server
- Price includes access using POP3, IMAP, and webmail so you can get email any way necessary
- Included tech support
- No special software or knowledge needed
- The provider has a performance incentive to provide good service
- Most include SPAM filtering
I would choose option #1, just because I'm a geek and it would be interesting (grin). Actually that's not true. I have enough to do already, and I am sure you do too!
In my opinion option #3 is the best value when time, quality, and service are figured into the equation. I use and trust 1and1 for the hosting of this site, so I checked out their service options for combination domain/email services. If you buy a domain through their site for $6.99/yr you get one free email account as part of the deal. This won't help a family, but suit a single person just fine. They also have a service labeled Instant Email. The Instant Email account includes the domain, five email accounts, spam filtering, webmail, and quite a few other features for $1 per month. This seems like a great plan for Mike. The cost of $12 per year is little more than the cost of a domain, and well worth it.