Free email hosting options.

[Traveller]

Hi All.

Are GoogleMail/Gmail and Microsoft the only two that are currently offering free email hosting with your own domain name as the email address?

And is GoogleMail/GMail still using the system of monitoring emails to impose relevant adverts?

Scuzzy, did you eventually move from GoDaddy to 1&1? If so, what is 1&1 (especially email hosting) like nowadays. I am still trying to find a good email host, however, for ALL of them, most reviews are not good and I'm suspicious about 'reviews' that are too good. I got totally discouraged today when I phoned 1&1 to ask a simple question and was so shocked at the attempted response of the person I spoke to, that I just said a polite 'thanks' and ended the call without asking my question again.

As before, I am still looking for something UK based. I think 1&1 is German, but if all else fails, I think I'll probably go with them again since it's been a few years since I cancelled the terrible email hosting I had with them; things may have improved.

Thanks.

[scuzzy]

I stopped using GoDaddy long ago, as it simply did not meet my needs. Plus, their servers were often overloaded. I switched to FastMail (Enhanced package) and it has been excellent beyond my expectations. They have a few packages available, including a free option. If you're serious about email, you'll be hard pressed to find anything better, anywhere, at any price. It might not have the prettiest interface, but once you get used to it you won't want anything else. It's fast, even on dial up. I use 4 different domains on FastMail, and nearly 100 email addresses.

Another lesser known option, but very much worth considering, is GMX Mail. Although it's been in beta for the longest time, it has been maturing quite well and constant improvements are being made. IMHO it's the best free option out there. The interface is nicely polished and the service is quite good, although it is a little pokey on dial up. I don't know of any options for using your own domain name on GMX, but they offer a large selection of domains to pick from including "co.uk".

[Traveller]

Thanks scuzzy.

One more question. I already have a domain registered but I haven't signed up for any email hosting for that domain. With normal email services that allow you to specify other email addresses (for forwarding to that service's email address), does it work even if I haven't got my email hosted yet?

I know I have written that very terribly, so I am going to provide an example below.

My registered domain is me.com. I want my email address to be name@me.com but I haven't signed up with anyone to have this email hosted. If I sign up with GMX, for example, and enter name@me.com as one of the email addresses from which I wish to have email forwarded to me (to the GMX inbox), would it work or do I need to have my name@me.com email hosted first?

If your answer is that it would work, would there be any point/difference in paying to have email hosted in the first place?

Thanks.

[scuzzy]

You must first get someone to host your domain's mx record.

For example, I purchase the domain "poasters.com", but that's all I've done. I want my email address to be "scuzzy@poasters.com". I still can't use that email address because I haven't setup my domain's MX records to point it to an email server.

So, I setup an account with an email service provider that can host my domain. Once my account is setup, the provider will give me the needed MX record information. I use that information to point the MX records to that email service provider by accessing the account where I purchased the domain. I then go back to the account for my email provider and create "scuzzy@poasters.com". Once the DNS records are updated across the web, I can now receive email at that address.

Here's a practical example:

1. I go to netfirms.com and I purchase a domain called "bozofreak.com". I just want to use the domain for email, and I'm not interested in actually hosting a website with that name (although I could if I wanted). I could use netfirm's account to create a few email addresses using bozofreak, since it's included in the package. But I need something more professional, less restrictive, and with more options.

2. I purchase a premium account at fastmain.fm.

3. Once the account is created, FastMail provides me the DNS information.

4. I access my netfirms account and point the MX records to FastMail's servers, using the DNS information they provided.

5. I again access my FastMail account and create the email address: scuzzy@bozofreak.com.

Note that you may experience several wait states in this process. You'll probably have to give some time for the domain name to propagate - maybe up to a day or two. Updating MX records could also take some time, and more time will be needed for your new email address to begin working.

Once the email address is working, I can use gmail, GMX, or some other service to download email from FastMail's service using either POP3 or IMAP.

If your needs are simple, check with the service provider who sold you the domain name. They may include email with that package, as most do. You can then create an emai address there, and use GMX (or whatever) to download your email from the domain provider. If that will suffice, then there's no need to purchase an account with a separate email provider.

[Traveller]

Thanks for your very detailed explanation Scuzzy.

Yes, my needs are more than simple. I don't think email came with my domain registration.

http://order.1and1.co.uk/xml/order/Instant;jsessionid=2A51BDC096E03EC8C250B9FBB9136C1D.TC31a?__frame=_top&__lf=Static

It mentions email but I am not sure that it is offered; the info about 100 aliases, etc. is probably only applicable AFTER email is bought, I think.

[scuzzy]

Yep, it's included. Every email address that you create on 1&1 will be an "alias". Normally an alias is an email address that doesn't really exist, but instead forwards the email to a valid email address.

1&1 is fine for domain purchases, but their email client leaves a little to desired. But, if you find that GMX (or any other free service) meets your needs, you can always use 1&1 to create the email address, and GMX to manage it.

If you are serious about having full control over your email, aliases, etc, then I strongly recommend FastMail's Enhanced plan, which will allow for up to 50 domains, and 200 domain aliases. You really won't find better for the money. FastMail is rock solid, fast and secure, with lots of advanced features.

At last count, I'm using 79 email addresses for 4 domains. It might seem like a lot, but I create an email address for just about everything net related. For example, if I pay my phone bill online, I use phone@mydomain.com. If I start getting spam at phone@mydomain.com, then I know who is to blame.

Take a look at this poast for more info.

EDIT: I still have one domain that I purchased through 1&1; the rest I moved over to Netfirms. I find that it's somewhat difficult to change DNS settings on 1&1 as compared to Netfirms. Once the settings are changed, I suppose it doesn't matter. That is, until the next time I have to make some sort of change. For that reason alone, I have been dropping my domain names from 1&1 as they approach their expiration and moving them over to Netfirms. I'll move the last one to Netfirms in February. Their control panel is much nicer than 1&1's, and they even have a nice email client to boot (not that I use it).

[scuzzy]

Traveller,

Since email scanning is of concern from you, I thought that you might be interested in GMX's take:

To our valued GMX members,

GMX.COM is a free webmail service and we are going to keep it that way. And so starting today, GMX is going to integrate some ads and banners to support our project. However, it is important for us to keep the GMX interface, your Inbox and all your outgoing emails free from ads. Also, we are not going to scan your emails for ads. And so we believe that the Logout page is the best place for this.

You can support GMX by visiting some of our sponsor sites.

Your GMX Team

[Traveller]

Thanks for all the good advice, Scuzzy.

'Yep, it's included. Every email address that you create on 1&1 will be a "domain alias". Normally an alias is an email address that doesn't really exist, but instead forwards the email to a valid email address. The package you purchased at 1&1 is referring to a domain alias, which is an actual email address.'

I don't understand.

So I can simply create me@mydomain in the 1&1 Control Panel?
Then what? Where will my email be delivered and where do I go to read it?
If any email sent to me@mydomain is forwarded onto me@yahoo.com for example, when I reply to it, will it look as though my response has come from my domain or from Yahoo at the recipient's end?
I prefer to use webmail and not have an email client installed on my pc. Would this be possible with the email thing which you say is included with my package?

Thanks; this isn't the easiest topic to understand (or to explain).

[scuzzy]

I'm sorry for the confusion. Here's what's important that you need to know:

Decide how much control you want to have over your email. If you depend heavily on email and you want to fully control how many email addresses you have, filtering, folders and archiving, where it's hosted, etc., then you will need to use a third party such as fastmail.fm.

If free webmail clients such as Yahoo do most everything you need, then use 1&1 to create me@mydomain.com, and then use Yahoo to send emails back and forth. This is done by using POP3 within your Yahoo account. However, with this method Yahoo does not actually "host" me@mydomain.com. Using POP3 you set your Yahoo account to download emails addressed to me@mydomain.com from 1&1's email servers, which is where me@mydomain.com is actually hosted. To directly manage me@mydomain.com, you'll have to use 1&1's control panel as well as their webmail client.

When you send a message using your Yahoo account, the return address will be me@yahoo.com. To get around that, go to your Yahoo account and adjust the "Reply to" setting to me@mydomain.com. Now when you send a message out, it looks like if it came from me@mydomain.com to whomever receives your email. When the recipient replies to your email, it automatically goes to me@mydomain.com. But a close inspection of the header information will show that it actually came from me@yahoo.com.

What is important for you to know about doing it this way is that Yahoo does not host me@mydomain.com. It gets hosted by 1&1. All emails to me@mydomain.com reside on 1&1's servers until you transfer or copy them over to Yahoo. When you go into your Yahoo account settings, you adjust the POP3 transfers to suit your needs. I have never used Yahoo, but all work similar... you'll set the frequency for POP3 downloads (how often POP3 mail is checked), as well as what happens to the original message that is on 1&1's servers (either immediately delete the original, delete after x amount of days, or never delete). Also, all emails that you send out from Yahoo are actually sent from me@yahoo.com, even if you place me@mydomain.com in the "Reply to". Another thing to consider in changing the "Reply to" setting is that ALL email going out from your Yahoo account will look like if it came from me@mydomain.com. The only way around this is to set up multiple Yahoo accounts, which can be a pain.

I suggest that you go into 1&1's control panel and do some simple experiments. For example, in your 1&1 control panel create an email address called test@mydomain.com. Then use 1&1's webmail client to manage test@mydomain.com and to send some messages to your Yahoo account. Check the messages on Yahoo and then send yourself some replies. See if you like 1&1's webmail client and if it will suit your needs. If not, go back to your Yahoo account settings and setup POP3 to download test@mydomain.com emails from 1&1 to your Yahoo account. Once you have that setup, give it a round of testing. This method will enable you to check mail to test@mydomain.com both at Yahoo and 1&1's webmail client (assuming that you didn't set POP3 to instantly delete mail from 1&1's server).

BTW: In my above examples, you can substitute "Yahoo" with "gmail" or "GMX" or whatever. The details will differ, but they all work similar.

If you need better control over your email, then you'll have to go with a third party solution. In that case, see my previous message of how to go about setting that up. I use FastMail for the following reasons:

1. I can use multiple domains
2. I can easily create multiple email addresses
3. Everything is under a single master account
4. Managing emails, folders, etc. is simple
5. My email if fully hosted and managed by FastMail

There are plenty of other reasons, but you get the idea. I suggest that you create a free account at fastmail.fm and get familiar with it. The interface will be quite different from most other webmail programs, but if you give it a chance you'll fall in love with its simplicity. The free account will be limiting, but it will give you an idea of how FastMail works. You'll also have an opportunity to pick from several email domains at sign up, although the free account limits your choices.

[Traveller]

Thanks Scuzzy; do you take credit card? Haha.

No need to apologise!!!! You didn't cause the confusion; it's just such a confusing topic.

I have many email addresses also for various purposes; friends, work, purchases, etc. However, at the moment, I am only looking for one email address - @mydomain. I don't need any fancy features at all. The stuff which the basic free web based emails do is enough for me except for not allowing bigger attachments, expiring after inactivity, etc. The only reasons I want an email address @mydomain are that I would like my email address to be @mydomain and not @Yahoo, etc. as it's much more professional and personal.

You've explained perfectly well how the forwarding issue works. Thanks!

'I suggest that you go into 1&1's control panel and do some simple experiments. For example, in your 1&1 control panel create an email address called test@mydomain.com. Then use 1&1's webmail client to manage test@mydomain.com and to send some messages to your Yahoo account.'

This is what I was confused about when you said 'The package you purchased at 1&1 is referring to a domain alias, which is an actual email address.' In order to use 1&1 webmail, their Instant Email package has to be purchased, so if I simply create an email address in Control Panel as you've suggested and send an email to that address, where is the email going to go if I don't have access to webmail unless I sign up for 1&1 to host it (ie. buy the Instant Email package)? I am assuming that I would need to have my emails go to Yahoo as you've explained, however, what would be the difference between aliases and the 'actual email address' which came with my package? Are you sure it's an 'actual email'?

Thanks.

[scuzzy]

With my 1&1 domain account, here in the USA, I can create an actual email account using my domain name. I can then use 1&1's included webmail client to send emails back and forth with the email account I created.

Using POP3, I can then use a free webmail account to download the messages from 1&1's servers as I explained.

You're going to have to experiment with your particular 1&1 package. Create an email account and see what happens, and to find out what webmail client 1&1 provides to check email to that account. If you don't like it, you can always delete it.

NORMALLY - an alias is a email address that merely forwards email to an actual email account. The alias itself is not an account. For example:

1. I create an actual email account called me@mydomain.com
2. I then create multiple "aliases" such as joe@mydomain.com, dude@mydomain.com, and dog@mydomain.com
3. When I create the aliases, I set where the messages will be forwarded, such as to me@mydomain.com
4. If I send a message to joe@mydomain.com, it is instantly forwarded to me@mydomain.com
5. I cannot set POP3 for aliases, since they are not actual email accounts

Aliases are simple ways to help you manage email to your actual email account. And yes, you can set the "Reply to" to an alias name.

If your 1&1 package is offering only aliases, you can create an alias and set the forwarding to your Yahoo account. Then, adjust the "Reply to" in Yahoo to match the alias. In this case, you won't have to bother with POP3 settings, and mail instantly goes to your Yahoo account. Maybe that will suit your needs perfectly.

Regardless, I encourage you to take a close look at GMX's free webmail.

[scuzzy]

As an afterthought:

If your 1&1 package only offers aliases, in the true sense of the word, then go ahead and create an alias or two. Then simply forward the emails to your free webmail (you'll do this when you create the alias).

In your free webmail, adjust the "Reply to" as needed. Then all email will look like it's coming and going to and from your personalized email address. There will be no need to mess with POP3 settings, since the email is instantly forwarded to your free account.

If you give GMX a try, the service will allow you to create a total of 10 email account (using their provided domain names), all of which will be under the same account. This very handy feature may work wonders for you.

[Traveller]

Hi Scuzzy.

THANK YOU for all the time you've taken to explain matters. It really has been appreciated.

The UK website states -

This service is free and is available to all POP3 accounts. Please note, Instant Domain customers require the additional purchase of 1&1 Instant Mail to access 1&1 Webmail.
(http://order.1and1.co.uk/xml/order/FeatureEmailWebmail;jsessionid=E393AC11B242101499B337971012A56D.TC31a?__frame=_top&__lf=Static)

The US website states -

This service is included with all e-mail accounts. Please note: Instant Domain customers require the additional purchase of 1&1 Instant Mail to access 1&1 WebMail.
(http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/FeatureEmailWebmail;jsessionid=D0FCDF888805F78178251FC87DA913DC.TC61a?__frame=_top&__lf=Static)

I just took 1&1's word for it. I'm going to test it out as you've suggested and see if I can access webmail too. Will poast back to let you know if it worked.

Thanks again for all your advice and patience.

[scuzzy]

You're welcome. When I have some extra time, I might use some of this info to do a tutorial in our Tutorial and Reference forum.

At the time that I purchased my domain through 1&1, it included use of their webmail. Of course, things change. Regardless, my last bit of advice on the aliases should work.

[Traveller]

Hi Scuzzy,

I tried to set up an email address, but it couldn't be done; only for forwarding. So, I went ahead and purchased the Instant Domain and so far, so good. It's totally basic, which is all I need. As I've had it before, I knew that already. The option for Webmail doesn't appear until Instant Email is signed up for.

When I add an alias, I'll follow the instructions you have kindly provided.

Thanks again Scuz!