Questions about setting up email addresses

[CalypsoCowboy]

So I've had my existing hotmail email address since I was in college, and figure that 13 years later it's probably time to setup a more grown up personal email account. Something easier to write out or speak for someone to understand, sounds easy enough right.

First of all it is a pain to try and find all of where you get email from.

Second, it turns out my new hotmail account is recycled. So when I went to add it to my PayPal account and my EBay account, I got an error saying, this email is already in use by such and such. Went to change it in CQC and they've banned new hotmail accounts for spamming purposes.

So just what the heck is a person supposed to do that wants an email address?

I do have a more grown up email with my college on it that simply forwards email and that works pretty well.

I do have WHS at home, do I look into the complexity of setting up an email client on it?

I have a domain name, looks like it's expiring soon, so I could probably get an email address that way?

I'm thinking the domain name option is probably the best option even with the cost. What are others doing?

Oh, I'm also thinking that these bigger companies are going to be in a world of hurt if they only use email address as I think we are going to see more recycled addresses.

 

[WayneW]

I have a domain name, looks like it's expiring soon, so I could probably get an email address that way?
I'm thinking the domain name option is probably the best option even with the cost. What are others doing?

I am a believer in owning and using your own domain name, but sometimes that is easier said than done. Your domain host will probably provide email services (most do it for free for reasonable numbers of mailboxes), but then you are at the mercy of your domain host and their reputation. I occasionally have trouble sending or receiving email because I am using a mail server name or IP address that has been blacklisted due to other clients of my host.

I want to explore Google's email services for your domain as that may offer a nice balance of wide accessibility and ownership.

I think webmail providers like hotmail and gmail will continue to grow as people like to be able to get their email from a variety of devices and locations. I still snear at people using an AOL email address, but I see lots of "grown up" people or businesses using hotmail or gmail.

I would avoid using an email address provided by your ISP as that holds you hostage to their services. If you want to change from DSL to cable, but that change means losing your email address, it becomes 10 times harder to do. Ditto with relocation outside of their service area. I want my phone number and email address to be under my control and hopefully mine for the rest of my life.

 

[Steve]

I pretty much agree with Wayne. I used to (and actually still do) have a Bigfoot email address which was a 'name for life' but it started getting spammed then their service got slow, then they started charging, etc etc. For me, the only way to go is your own domain. That way, as long as you keep renewing it, it is truly your name for life. And if you start having trouble with a host, switch. Since you own the domain you can do what you want with it, including setting up your own mail server and being in control of your destiny. I've had my own domains for like 10 years and only on my second host and it works 99.5% great. The other cool think is since you own the domain, you can have as main emails at that domain as you want and can organize it in Outlook with rules, etc. For example, I have my families personal names like Steve@mydomain which is usually only given to friends or trusted sources for normal email. You can have a banking@, insurance@, shopping@, jokes@ or whatever you want. That way if one starts getting spammed, toss it and create another. As long as its yur domain you have an unlimited amount of addresses available. Just be careful with your main one like your name so it doesn't start getting spammed. Well worth the $10 year plus hosting. I pay around $13 mo for hosting but I have 10 domains and websites that I maintain on it, not just for my own personal.

 

[Slates]

I highly recommend gmail for email, and further, Google Voice to remove all ties to phone #s.

Google voice you get to pick a new number which becomes your "hub". All calls to that number you can forward to your actual phones based on rules.. like time of day, known callers, contact groups, etc. So, for instance, my GV # forwards to my cell phone at all times for all people that I know (in my contact list in google), my home phone for friends/family, and my work phone for coworkers, friends and family. The choices are really endless.

Further, you have online voicemail which transcribes voicemails left for you. You can set custom recordings based on who calls (friends, family, telemarketers).

Its all free, for now. There are also creative ways to get around cell phone charges which take some reading..

Sorry, very off topic... but I love my gmail service.. my email contacts are now merged with my phone contacts, and someday, when I get a G1 or similar phone, all of my contact information will be managed online.. no more worries about losing a phone or paying to transfer contacts to a new phone.

My largest concern with this service is how much MORE Google knows about me now... where does it end.

 

[electron]

I like Google's service, but I will not use them for critical or private stuff. Too many people are depending on Google for everything, this WILL backfire someday, I promise. The steps below are one of my multiple approaches:

1) Get your own domain (which you already have).
2) Use ZoneEdit.com and you can either create invididual forwarders, or setup a catchall address (which forwards anything to another e-mail account). ZoneEdit is completely free and I have been using it for many years.

 

[electron]

While checking out CNN, I saw this headline: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/01/gmail.outage/index.html

 

[CalypsoCowboy]

Great information.

I've got a gmail account and it is okay. The one thing I don't like is they don't have folders, they have tags. Me personally I try to keep my Inbox empty, stuff that I need to respond or do something with.

 

[Slates]

Gmail has been extremely reliable for me so far. I didn't even notice the 2 hour outage that you mentioned, guess it all depends on when it happens. It has been a far more reliable email service than my work account, which often goes down once a month or so, if only for a little while.

As I mentioned though, my main concern is what personal information they have on me. The services they offer are how they make money, so I am more confident that they will ensure reliable service there.

Things like the Google Voice service, however, I am not as confident about. My guess is they will eventually incorporate ads into the service (like maybe instead of ringing, you hear ads). The good thing is that I can always quit the service if I feel it gets too invasive.

 

[TXFlatLander]

You can have the best of both worlds: your own domain and gmail. I setup Gmail For Your Domain couple years ago for free. You setup a CNAME record to route your email to gmail. Works out great.

They changed the name and it seems to appear under Google Apps now. This appears to be the starting place.

 

[felixrosbergen]

wow...been spending some time looking at google apps...this is pretty cool stuff..like entreprise level capability for families or small companies.