Need advice on changing email address

[Grog]

I have always been wary of free email services. Email is so important to me that I feel that it's a service I want to pay for, and not depend on someone else's business for.

The domain name corresponding to my last name has been bought by netidentity.com (a service of Tucows.com, a Canadian company). So I pay about $20 a year for myfirstname@mylastname.com . For another $25 I get myfirstname.mylastname.com which I am not really using but 10 years ago I had a blog and I like the archive to remain accessible somehow.

I access it through POP or through a web interface.

Overall it's been pretty good, and I hardly receive any spam. However these last few months they have had a series of technical issues, including one recently that lasted three days. I thought that sucked pretty badly, but the same happened to my university last year. Tucows gave me a 2-month credit and apologized profusely. Oh well. So I don't know if I really want to recommend them, but you can be aware they're out there. You can check if they have your last name by just typing: www.yourlastname.com or .net and see what happens.

I've had this address for over 5 years I think.

[Chile Pepper]

The domain name corresponding to my last name has been bought by netidentity.com (a service of Tucows.com, a Canadian company).

I am so glad you cleared that up. I couldn't figure out who owned me! It made no sense at all--but now I see the netidentity logo. Case solved.

[OakLeaf]

okay I had to look - "mylastname.com" is a German manufacturer of industrial baking machines! Their website is full of illustrations of cookies, wafers and ice cream cones. I knew there was a reason for my sweet tooth

[emily_in_nc]

I've been meaning to break away from my Earthlink account for several years now, and this thread finally inspired me to do it!

We've had DSL through a local telephone company for about four years now, had Earthlink dialup before that for years. I couldn't bear to change my email address everywhere (I do a LOT of online shopping, Yahoo groups, many email contacts, etc), so we've been paying $20/mo to maintain the Earthlink account even though we can get email through our ISP or obviously through gmail or a myriad of other free sources. I've actually had a gmail account since 2004 I've just never really used. It gets a lot of spam, but 100% of it is caught by their filters.

The Earthlink account comes up for payment in mid-Feb (I pay a year at a time to save $5/mo), and I've decided to change to the gmail addy. Since I have three months, I can do it over time. I need to rehost photos and a couple of small websites, update a zillion accounts, and tell all the people I correspond with (already starting that). DH is also on board, and we've already started making the change. Got Thunderbird set up to retrieve mail from gmail now as well as Earthlink. By Feb. we should have it all done. $20 saved monthly isn't a huge amount, but every bit helps in these tough economic times (especially since my company isn't doing well these days, and I may not have a job forever).

So thanks for reminding me that I need to get going on this! As long as google doesn't go under, I shouldn't have to go through this pain again for a long, long time.

[OakLeaf]

Can you get your DSL through Earthlink (and if so, how would the price compare)?

[emily_in_nc]

Can you get your DSL through Earthlink (and if so, how would the price compare)?

No, they don't have coverage in the very rural area we live in (down a dirt road miles from town). Our only broadband options here are our telco's DSL, which fortunately is very good, and pricier satellite. No cable or garbage pickup out here either...but we live on 11 acres of beautiful hardwoods with trails right on our property for running, hiking, mountain biking. The trade-offs are well worth it!