Domain hosting

[OneWorld]

I am getting sick to the back teeth and back again with Microsoft Outlook.Com, it has got to the point where it simply refuses to work with my Thunderbird mail client - it refuses to accept the password.

Note BTinternet email is doing the same, and I hear tell that BT are going to stop the email service anyway.

I want to ditch the aforementioned, I rely so much on email for all manner of things. There are a few free email services I use that have continued to work flawlessly but I don't want to entrust important email to them as I have known free services to just vanish overnight

I would like a cheap domain host, which essentially I will use simply for email services, plus I will have a basic home page.

I have tried to find email only services but they seem more inclined to businesses, eg offering all manner of email extras, 100 aliases etc, I don't need that, what I do need is an email service that is predictable, reliable and of course cheap and then I can kiss good bye to outlook.com and btinernet mail once and for all. It has got to the stage where people are not receiving my email and vice versa

[Folderol]

Easy
Cheap
Reliable

Pick any two!

I use Zen for a domain name and complete service including multiple email addresses and webspace.
Never lost an email, and extremely rarely have any other issues - Oh and you can telephone them and speak to an English human.

[Drew Stephenson]

I used to use 123-reg but they've recently changed their model so they no longer include email domain forwarding with their basic domain registration package - so my costs would be going from £30 every two years to £60 a year.
So I'll be shifting as well.

I did ask in the lounge a while back, I'll see if I can find the thread with the recommendations.

EDIT: here's the thread: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... ng#p896196

[James Perrett]

It looks like my recommendation in that thread is now outdated as TSOHost are now going to be rebranded to 123-Reg.

[DanielBeach]

I personally use HostPresto, which is very cheap for what I need. Almost unlimited email storage, lots of email addresses, and I have two domains parked there for only about £7.50 per month.

They also get back to tech issue “tickets” which you open within an hour or two, and resolve problems quickly.

I haven’t really used the included web hosting, but it does work, at least on the simple basis that I have used.

Daniel

[ManFromGlass]

I’m parsimonious so I use Hostinger.

[Nazard]

It looks like my recommendation in that thread is now outdated as TSOHost are now going to be rebranded to 123-Reg.

I've been with TSO for years and I shall be moving from their 'new' provider once I've checked out the alternatives.

[muzines]

Depending on your requirements, I would recommend:-

- http://www.hover.com for domain names.
- http://krystal.io for hosting.

These are the best services of this type I've used in over two decades of doing webby stuff.

[OneWorld]

I’m parsimonious so I use Hostinger.

I used hostinger way back when it was free and was quite impressed. I see they are now offering $3.99 a month for 48 months if I read it correctly, then 8.99 a month on renewal, which will be in 2028is that correct?

[Drew Stephenson]

Having finally got around to acting on this I've just moved to fasthosts - best price vs feature balance for me.
Now let's see how well the transfer process works...

[ManFromGlass]

I’m parsimonious so I use Hostinger.

I used hostinger way back when it was free and was quite impressed. I see they are now offering $3.99 a month for 48 months if I read it correctly, then 8.99 a month on renewal, which will be in 2028is that correct?

It’s possible - they are always having a sale of some sort. I also have 3 domains with them, soon to be 4 and their tech support was very helpful as I tried to do a bunch of the setup myself and I am not so techy when it comes to internet coding etc

[ajay_m]

Zen are undoubtedly one of the top ISPs and their staff are really knowledgeable and helpful.
For email my partner and I have been on Yahoo business mail for ages, it's owned by Turbify now and seems to work reliably enough.i also connect thunderbird to it so I have effectively a full backup of all emails on my local computer as well. They also host the domains we own and my partners website.

[BigRedX]

Just be aware that if you have your own domain name for your email address unless your hosting service (or you if you have the technical know-how to to it yourself) is completely on the ball with updating security certificates and protocols you may find you sometimes have problems with people who use gmail or one of the other major webmail services receiving your emails.

[OneWorld]

Zen are undoubtedly one of the top ISPs and their staff are really knowledgeable and helpful.
For email my partner and I have been on Yahoo business mail for ages, it's owned by Turbify now and seems to work reliably enough.i also connect thunderbird to it so I have effectively a full backup of all emails on my local computer as well. They also host the domains we own and my partners website.

There's a friend of mine who has a medium sized IT company, in Rochdale where Zen is based, and the first thing he does when taking on IT responsibilities for whatever company, is ditch BT and sign up with ZEN - reason - reliable, cost effective,m predictanle and yes, the ability to speak to a knowledgeablem locally based person when needing support. He could of got me a cheap mayes rates deal with ZEN some years but their broadband at the time didn't reach here, where I live. The price of the contract would have been fixed in perpetuity!!!

[OneWorld]

Just be aware that if you have your own domain name for your email address unless your hosting service (or you if you have the technical know-how to to it yourself) is completely on the ball with updating security certificates and protocols you may find you sometimes have problems with people who use gmail or one of the other major webmail services receiving your emails.

Thanks for the heads up about that - Google, they have us by the knackers don't they, everyone has to kowtow to them then they deny any talk of 'hegemony' !

[ajay_m]

Because of spam, email hosts have to implement all manner of stuff like SPF and DKIM etc and even then if your source domain is in a block of IP addresses and another address in that block gets tagged eg by Spamhaus etc then your email is not gonna get delivered.
Consequently the days of self hosted email are coming to an end. You really have to use one of the big guys I'm afraid.

[Drew Stephenson]

Having finally got around to acting on this I've just moved to fasthosts - best price vs feature balance for me.
Now let's see how well the transfer process works...

I retract my earlier endorsement. Turns out that https is going to cost me another £35 a year - which definitely takes the shine off.
Bit narked about that frankly.

[muzines]

Did you look at Hover for email hosting?

https://www.hover.com/email

[Forum Admin]

I retract my earlier endorsement. Turns out that https is going to cost me another £35 a year - which definitely takes the shine off.
Bit narked about that frankly.

Drew, that's not a bad price for an SSL security certificate. Google and Bing dislike websites that do not use https:// (I suspect they allegedly penalise them in rankings).

SOS uses Namesco for all our dozens and dozens of domain names we've registered over the years. Highly recommended and their Control Panel is easy to traverse (unlike some!!).

I see they are throwing in a FREE SSL {no, not the famous consoles} with new domains - see home page at https://www.names.co.uk

[Drew Stephenson]

I did look at Namesco but their domains were more expensive and I needed to buy an email package as well as the domain, whereas that was included with fasthosts.
I'm just a bit narked because a non-https website is pretty much useless nowadays and I've always had the SSL certificate included in the basic price before.
Caveat emptor and all that.

[OneWorld]

I did look at Namesco but their domains were more expensive and I needed to buy an email package as well as the domain, whereas that was included with fasthosts.
I'm just a bit narked because a non-https website is pretty much useless nowadays and I've always had the SSL certificate included in the basic price before.
Caveat emptor and all that.

It was always the expectation that IT was going to mature into somethign more easy, elegant and user friendly, it seems to be becoming ever more perplexing.

[OneWorld]

I think I have discovered why I am having Outlook problems and it is all about OAuth2, a newer security setup

I have read t hat Microsoft are introducing this and they acknowledge things are as rosy as they expected, there are known flaws.

One issue is that older software, including older versions of MS Outlook, can't handle OAuth2, and the same goes for other mail clients. They still rely on IMAP.

However, sinetimes they can connect and sometimes they cannot, the problems are intermittent. I suspect other mail suppliers are invoking OAuth2, btinternet for one.

I have found that the later versions of Mozilla Thunderbird can handle OAuth2. I tested this and it connected to www.outlook.com straight off and all the setup fields in the settings are populated correctly.

Thing is I have several email accounts all being piped into Thunderbird and I will have to find some time in the day when I feel inclined to ship all the mail in - so an exhaustive deletion session might be advised.

One problem I have with the new Thunderbird puts all the mail, in any particular thread, at the right. IK that's what was done anyway, but now you cannot click on any of the mails shown on the right and open the mail - why don't GUI creators just leave things alone, we don't want things to look jazzy, we want thenm to be logical, functional and transparent in operation. If it works, leave it alone, walk away from it and go play with your frisbee or something

[Forum Admin]

It was always the expectation that IT was going to mature into somethign more easy, elegant and user friendly, it seems to be becoming ever more perplexing.

Hi OneWorld - not sure I'd agree wholeheartedly with your comment. I find the Namesco control panel very easy to use - even when sorting out complex matters like setting up SPF and DKIM records to ensure bulk mailings are not considered to be Junk mail.

Can't speak for other suppliers - agreed, there are cheaper offerings out there, and often summer sales - but on something for business as important as our web + email domains, it's our hard-won reputation over 39 years that's at stake, and we like to have certainty and a guarantee of longevity and professionalism in the companies SOS does business with as our services suppliers. It matters more than us saving a few quid.

[Forum Admin]

I think I have discovered why I am having Outlook problems and it is all about OAuth2, a newer security setup...

One issue is that older software, including older versions of MS Outlook, can't handle OAuth2, and the same goes for other mail clients. They still rely on IMAP...

Yes, OAuth2 can be a royal pain. In fact, the 2-factor authentication demanded by every mobile app, bank, cloud service I increasingly find myself using takes sooo much time out of the working day. Luckily, I never not have my iPhone with me, and use Google Authenticator and OneAuth for smart sign-ins, along with Facial scans, kidney donation, "pieces of eight" crypto donations... whatever, to gain fast passwordless entry.

We had a power outage at my home office recently, and although the landline, broadband router, monitor screens etc are backed up via a hefty UPS battery, it only gives me 30 minutes to do stuff in -- hence why I run the company from my MacBook Pro whose battery lasts longer -- but most apps we use are SaaS cloud-based now and without the router, the business grinds to a halt.

I couldn't even get up and make a cuppa (no electricity).

It was time for acoustic guitar practice...

[Forum Admin]

We've been migrating to Zoho apps and am impressed. They are India-based and USA with iffices around the world. Privately owned company, not going anywhere, a big player in the SaaS market rivalling Google Workspace and other apps.

They offer a free forever Zoho Mail plan for up to 5 users - see pricing here:

https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html

I use it for personal domain I own, and am impressed with it. Some nice features and does everything all the others offer without your emails being scraped and your info sold on for profit, like certain companies allegedly do. Uses Zoho's own data warehouses.

https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html

Perhaps try the free plan [nothing to lose, all to gain] and if you like it, ditch BTinternet (I did)?