Domain registration suggestion

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Domain registration suggestion

marmel

1924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 226

ID Verified

Trusted

#21650 3-May-2008 10:44

With the debacle currently going on with xnet I am in the process of moving to another ISP. I thought as I am going to have to change my email address this may be a good opportunity to set up a domain name so I can keep the same email address regardless of my ISP.

I haven't used domain's before and don't really know much about them.

I would appreciate any sugestions for a company that can provide me with 3-4 email addresses to use at a reasonable cost. It must also be easy to set up and use. I have no plans to set up a website at this stage.

The other (free) option I have thought about is google mail, can Windows mail be set up to retireve messages from a google account?

1 | 2

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128123 3-May-2008 10:54

The system I use works really well and is cheap:

Buy a New Zealand domain name with http://www.1stdomains.co.nz/ for $24.50 per year + GST.

Sign up with google apps: http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/org/index.html

Point your domain at Google apps. There is plenty of help on the google apps site about how to do this. You can then have up to 100 users for your domain for free with Google apps which supports imap and pop3. Every user gets a gmail account and you can set up email aliases also. You can also setup a domain home page and use google apps for collabrative documents etc.

I have my last name registered so my parents have a domain email address along with my brother, sister etc.

Cheers,

Matt.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

hairy1

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128125 3-May-2008 10:58

Another suggestion: If you don't already have a domain name you can register one when setting up google apps. I think it is $10 per year and will save you having to do the firstdomains thing.

It won't be a .nz domain though. lastname.org would be just as good as a .nz domain.

I already had a .nz domain which meant firstdomains was the cheapest option.

Cheers.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Lurch

1061 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 71

#128127 3-May-2008 11:00

hmm, do they accept internet banking at 1stdomains? cant see anything mentioned :(

hairy1

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128128 3-May-2008 11:01

I just paid via creditcard. Not sure about internet banking though.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Lurch

1061 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 71

#128129 3-May-2008 11:07

I can add it to my bill with Orcon and they'll just debit me so might go that way. Downside is they are $10 more than 1st domains :(

Have sent 1st domains an email though :)

willnz

573 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

Trusted

#128150 3-May-2008 12:30

Good thing about Orcon is that you can elect to pay $3 a month or $32 a year (plus GST). Monthly option is great for people like me with 50+ .nz domains :p

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

coffeebaron

6304 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3567

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128173 3-May-2008 13:44

http://www.registerdirect.co.nz/
Is a good option for the home user. Also add their optional junk-mail filtering $30 per year; the best junk-mail filter I have used.

Rural IT and Broadband support.

Broadband troubleshooting and master filter installs.
Starlink installer - one month free: https://www.starlink.com/?referral=RC-32845-88860-71
Wi-Fi and networking
Cel-Fi supply and installer - boost your mobile phone coverage legally

Need help in Auckland, Waikato or BoP? Click my email button, or email me direct: [my user name] at geekzonemail dot com

hairy1

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128178 3-May-2008 13:58

I was using registerdirect prior to 1stdomains and they are very good and easy to use. Registerdirect and 1stdomains are both owned by the same company. The spam and anti-virus filtering is very good with registerdirect.

Cheers,

Matt.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

coffeebaron

6304 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3567

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128179 3-May-2008 14:06

hairy1: I was using registerdirect prior to 1stdomains and they are very good and easy to use. Registerdirect and 1stdomains are both owned by the same company. The spam and anti-virus filtering is very good with registerdirect.

Cheers,

Matt.

Yes that's right, both come under http://www.net24.co.nz/ I think registerdirect are more geared towards the consumer, where as NET24 + 1stdomains have a lot more advanced stuff for business users etc.

Rural IT and Broadband support.

Need help in Auckland, Waikato or BoP? Click my email button, or email me direct: [my user name] at geekzonemail dot com

zocster

1994 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 105

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128185 3-May-2008 14:13

1stdomains don't seem to have total dns records control to update for google apps, however the folks at discount domains had managed to get a .nz domain name updated to be able to utilise google apps for your domain.

As for credit card if you are not banking with westpac why not try loaded card.

Have you thought of registering other TLD names? .nz is way over priced, just to let people know that you live in New Zealand. I find godaddy to be affordable and awesome registrar.

On another take, Microsoft has similar things happening to google apps, look at this one.

hairy1

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#128188 3-May-2008 14:17

I found the registerdirect web control panel comprehensive. The 1stdomains control has a lot less control (I can't specify multiple mx records for instance). 1stdomains appears to be a cut down version of registerdirect.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

chakkaradeep

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#128194 3-May-2008 14:36

marmel:
The other (free) option I have thought about is google mail, can Windows mail be set up to retireve messages from a google account?

You mean, Gmail via Windows Live Mail

Regards,
Chaks

Desktop : Intel Quad Core Q9400 2.66GHz - 8GB RAM - 500 GB + 500 GB HDD - NVidia GeForce 9800GT - LG246WH Flatron Display - Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Hyper-V
Virtual Machine : Powered by Hyper-V and VMWare Workstation
Laptop: HP dv7-3004TX Entertainment Notebook PC | HP Touchsmart tx2 1119au - Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Mac: iMac 21.5" Snow Leopard
Mobile : iPhone 3GS

mushion22

297 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#128325 4-May-2008 08:04

Google apps is quite nice. If you are happy with a .com you can sign up, pay US$10 for the domain name with a credit card as part of the google process and it's all done for you. No needing to mess around with DNS settings etc, and you can have up to 100 different user accounts for free, and you can add other domain names to it. (Eg you could have your email address be joe@blogs.com as well as joe@blogs.co.nz). Takes about 10 - 15 mins from start to finish if you already know what domain you want.
It uses the gmail interface for webmail which is nice, and as such also has POP3/IMAP support so you can use it in Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird etc etc etc - pretty much any standard email client. You also get the >6GB of storage space.
Also google apps has Google Pages which means you can set yourself up a simple website using their web based WYSIWYG editor if you want. And you get google chat, google docs, calendar...
Otherwise there are a multitude of places you can get email and web hosting from. Anything from simple POP3 email right up to hosted MS Exchange. You should be able to pick up simple pop3 email for around $5 - 10 a month.
Heh, I'm a bit enthusiastic about Google Apps at the moment. I just registered a domain for myself and my dad thru it and its all very easy and exciting. Pages is a bit simplistic at the moment but it's a work in progress.

If you dont have a credit card... http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/ProductsAndServices/L/Loaded/Loaded.htm

marmel

1924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 226

ID Verified

Trusted

#128327 4-May-2008 08:09

Thanks for the reply everyone.

I have decided to keep things simple and have set up a gmail account working with Windows mail.

I have no plans to set up a website and didn't think it was worth paying to choose a domain just for email, @gmail.com is fine by me.

Now I just have to pick which ISP I am going with.

mushion22

297 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#128330 4-May-2008 08:27

Lol. In my opinion sell up and move to another country (or to a new subdivision with FTTH, or to Whangarei once Northpower rolls out their PON) if you want to find something truly good. No matter what you get in NZ it's going to be overpriced and it's going to underperform. You probably would have been better to work things out with WxC, they seem to be doing a good job overall on the customer service front and the technical front. How many other CEOs do you see personally looking into customer issues?
As for other ISPs, its generally all much of the same bar minor differences that affect niche groups of people. In my experience Telstraclear and Xtra have horrible customer service. Slingshot is a bit iffy. They don't really seem to be doing anything overly innovative on the consumer front at the moment. Orcon, maybe - they're doing the LLU thing, and being part of Kordia they will probably get first pickings when the new undersea cable comes online. iHug/VF - maybe if you're interested in a cell + landline + broadband thing but again I wouldn't bet on customer service as iHug becomes more and more rolled up into VF. Woosh's customer service tends to be bollocks, particulalry tech support. Take your pick really. You could go with other smaller ISPs which I guess might have friendly customer service, but they're just going to be the same on the technical performance side in general. If you're lucky enough to be on an unbundled exchange then you might get a connection with lower contention for a while.

1 | 2