email hosting options?

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shermanp

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#88526 17-Aug-2011 16:25

First, not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I'm not sure where else it could go.

We (the family) are at the stage of talking about changing ISP for broadband. As this would also involve changing email addresses, I thought it would be a good idea to investigate alternative options for hosting our email (other than the potential new ISP).

There seems to be a few different options:

plain old gmail (or other free webmail hosting like yahoo or hotmail)
google apps with our own domain name
email hosting with a local company (as well as domain name of course)
or email hosting with international hosting company (and domain name)

Have I missed any options? What do people find works best? What's reliable? What company's?

If we went with a domain name, would look at spending under $30/year. .nz domain not required. As far as email gos, would like this to be as cheap as possible, or free.

Thank you for your time.

freitasm

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#508067 17-Aug-2011 16:27

Cheap/free? Google Apps for Domains or Windows Live Domains.

Paid? Microsoft 360.

mattwnz

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#508072 17-Aug-2011 16:31

shermanp: First, not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I'm not sure where else it could go.

We (the family) are at the stage of talking about changing ISP for broadband. As this would also involve changing email addresses, I thought it would be a good idea to investigate alternative options for hosting our email (other than the potential new ISP).

There seems to be a few different options:
plain old gmail (or other free webmail hosting like yahoo or hotmail)
google apps with our own domain name
email hosting with a local company (as well as domain name of course)
or email hosting with international hosting company (and domain name)
Have I missed any options? What do people find works best? What's reliable? What company's?

If we went with a domain name, would look at spending under $30/year. .nz domain not required. As far as email gos, would like this to be as cheap as possible, or free.

Thank you for your time.

Depends if you want support and faster downloading, which using a NZ provider gives you. The email provider I use has @tmail, which I find really good for about $10 per month for just email hosting.
Gmail is the cheap/nocost option, but it is slower due to it being in the US, and you can probably forget about personal support. As with anything, you get what you pay for.

freitasm

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#508075 17-Aug-2011 16:34

GMail is not based in the US only, and depending on your current ISP it may even have a local cache for it.

Microsoft 360 is based of Singapore (as it BPOS service) and you won't see much difference in speed when it comes to email.

mattwnz

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#508080 17-Aug-2011 16:37

freitasm: GMail is not based in the US only, and depending on your current ISP it may even have a local cache for it.

Microsoft 360 is based of Singapore (as it BPOS service) and you won't see much difference in speed when it comes to email.

They wouldn't cache the actual emails though would they, just the gmail interface files? I was talking more about pop and imap access to email, which I wouldn't think would be cached? I also use gmail for email with pop and smtp, and do notice more of a delay than with a NZ provider, but it isn't really a problem.

freitasm

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#508083 17-Aug-2011 16:38

Delays in emails are really something you wouldn't notice. It's not like you are playing a FPS game where the milliseconds count...

shermanp

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#508088 17-Aug-2011 16:43

freitasm: Delays in emails are really something you wouldn't notice. It's not like you are playing a FPS game where the milliseconds count...

Depend's on your ISP to a degree.

I have some cheap shared hosting (US) which I run my emails out of, and IMAP at night can get a bit slow (ISP is xnet)

shermanp

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#508092 17-Aug-2011 16:50

I just want to add that this is for the parent's email, so whatever gets setup has to be reliable, provide IMAP, and not need nursing along after it has been setup.

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shermanp

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#508101 17-Aug-2011 17:01

Sorry, me again. If we decide to get a domain name, where would you recommend getting it from?

I currently have a domain with Discount Domains, but $27.95+GST isn't that cheap. Are there cheaper places that still provide a reputable service?

Thank you.

mattwnz

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#508106 17-Aug-2011 17:09

shermanp: I just want to add that this is for the parent's email, so whatever gets setup has to be reliable, provide IMAP, and not need nursing along after it has been setup.

It really depends what your budget is. But gmail would be the free option.

nate

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#508109 17-Aug-2011 17:10

shermanp: Sorry, me again. If we decide to get a domain name, where would you recommend getting it from?

I currently have a domain with Discount Domains, but $27.95+GST isn't that cheap. Are there cheaper places that still provide a reputable service?

Thank you.

domains4less.co.nz

shermanp

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#508111 17-Aug-2011 17:16

nate:
domains4less.co.nz

Do you know if their email hosting is any good, or would it be best just to stick with google apps?

Zeon

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#509156 19-Aug-2011 18:34

I would still go National for email. It's usually faster or cheaper (if your paying a national/international price which may come with UFB) and you have local support you can call up.

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shermanp

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#509203 19-Aug-2011 20:58

Just an update. Parents decided that they were happy to use my domain name (I don't mind them using it either), so for now, I have them set up as another account on my hosting.

richms

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#509368 20-Aug-2011 15:02

secure imap gets totally screwed with by slingshot to the point where it barely works, times out all the time etc to the google account. via snap it works fine.

Make sure whatever you set up with does TLS since you will be accessing it from off network all the time. many cheap webhosts dont do it, even if they were to only use generic cpanel/whatever certs it is still way better than sending your private emails across the air for everyone to see when you are on someone elses network etc.

Richard rich.ms