Need advice on the best way to handle e-mail

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
433
I need a little advice on e-mail solutions.

I understand that these days no one uses their ISP assigned e-mail addresses. However, it was back sometime in the 90's when Comcast first arrived in my neighborhood so I've been with the same ISP ever since. Back then, you'd create a few e-mail addresses through your ISP and that was just what folks used. I don't even think gmail was around back then. So I've been using a comcast address as my main address for a very long time. It just never occurred to me how "bad" that would be until recently.

Fast forward to today. My family has moved. Our current home is temporary until we find and purchase our next home and doesn't get Comcast. I don't know whether our final home will or won't get Comcast. So, as you can imagine, I have about a zillion accounts and stuff signed up under that old Comcast address that I've used for decades. It is going to take me a long time and alot of work to move all those to new accounts. I can continue to use those comcast e-mail addresses, even without an account, as long as I keep them active but I don't want to count on that. Who knows if comcast will suddenly decide to change its policy.

So I'd like to try and have an e-mail address that isn't "locked" to a specific ISP and something that is unlikely to go away or make me go through all this again in a few years. I also use Outlook as an e-mail client so I prefer to use that instead of just a web interface. I know alot of folks use gmail (which you can download to Outlook) but I prefer not to use a google service for my main e-mail needs. I use gmail mainly for garbage accounts and I'd rather not tie myself to google. I've heard some people advise to create an outlook.com account and I'm not sure if that is a good idea or a bad idea.

I've also heard of some that somehow get their own e-mail address domain ([email protected]) and then somehow forward that to another service. That way if they change their ISP then they just need to set up their new ISP to forward to that same old address. Maybe thats the best way? If this is the best way, where do you go to purchase your own e-mail address and how do you do it? How do you set that up? Or maybe you guys somehow set up your own e-mail servers using a NAS or something?

I have no idea what the best plan here is or what my options are. I figured I'd throw a post up here and see if someone could at least point me in the right direction. Just curious on the way you guys handle e-mail. Once I finish getting some other solution set up I really don't want to have to migrate all these accounts again for a very very very long time as this is going to be un-fun.

Thanks!
 
riiiiight....
He's not wrong. Try signing up to a Linux distro forum.
Microsoft drops the activation email across the board. That's the only instance I've personally experienced, Linux Mint, manjaro, for sure. No explanation or recourse.
 
He's not wrong. Try signing up to a Linux distro forum.
Microsoft drops the activation email across the board. That's the only instance I've personally experienced, Linux Mint, manjaro, for sure. No explanation or recourse.
so linux issue? is that what op is using?
 
I'm using fastmail with a domain I registered pointed at their server. It's maybe not the cheapest solution, but I'll have the same address as long as I own the domain. Was a lot cheaper before dyn sold their registrar services...
 
Not really. If he ever wants to register on one of those forums, even if he doesn't use Linux, it will be an issue. It may not be restricted to Linux forums, either...
so linux issue? is that what op is using?
 
Not really. If he ever wants to register on one of those forums, even if he doesn't use Linux, it will be an issue. It may not be restricted to Linux forums, either...
so if you try to sign up on a linux distro outlook blocks it? not just junks it?
 
so if you try to sign up on a linux distro outlook blocks it? not just junks it?
Dunno, been forever since I used mine, and don't think I've ever created a forum account with it. Actually, thinking about it, the forum software may drop requests from outlook email addresses because they used to be frequently used by spammers. I think this forum used to (may still) do the same.

Edit:
Screenshot_20211009-211615.jpg
 
Last edited:
so linux issue? is that what op is using?
No, Microsoft drops emails. If they don't like a domain, they don't accept emails. It doesn't go in trash, it just doesn't show up. I've had a Hotmail account for 20 years, had to get a proton mail account because I can't trust MSFT to allow mail to be delivered.
 
Dunno, been forever since I used mine, and don't think I've ever created a forum account with it. Actually, thinking about it, the forum software may drop requests from outlook email addresses because they used to be frequently used by spammers. I think this forum used to (may still) do the same.

Edit:
View attachment 401808
I have had discussions with forum moderators. They confirm email was sent every time and point to Microsoft.
 
Dunno, been forever since I used mine, and don't think I've ever created a forum account with it. Actually, thinking about it, the forum software may drop requests from outlook email addresses because they used to be frequently used by spammers. I think this forum used to (may still) do the same.

Edit:
View attachment 401808
those are from 09-15, sure it still doesnt work? i use my outlook email here and everywhere else, minus linux forums, and it works fine.
 
No, Microsoft drops emails. If they don't like a domain, they don't accept emails. It doesn't go in trash, it just doesn't show up. I've had a Hotmail account for 20 years, had to get a proton mail account because I can't trust MSFT to allow mail to be delivered.
ok, works for me but i guess im not goin where you guys are...
 
those are from 09-15, sure it still doesnt work? i use my outlook email here and everywhere else, minus linux forums, and it works fine.
No, pretty sure it's been fixed here. Not sure about elsewhere. Like I said, been forever since I last used that email account.
 
The issue for me is that if they'll drop those emails and ignore the problem, what happens when they broaden horizons?
sure but like i just asked, is it still an ongoing issue? the examples given were 6+ years old.
 
This made me curious. Assuming you meant https://forum.manjaro.org/ ... I just went there and signed up, and the email came through (to my ancient hotmail account) just fine within moments.
curious indeed. Yes I meant that, and it most definitely did not work last week. Third or fourth different linux forum thats happened to me in the past few years.

Consensus is Microsoft is dropping the emails, but perhaps there is more to it. I'll never know. I do know proton mail works for me, hotmail does not.
 
just out of curiosity i signed up using my outlook.com email and it came through but went to junk.

1633966781908.png
 
I need a little advice on e-mail solutions.

I understand that these days no one uses their ISP assigned e-mail addresses. However, it was back sometime in the 90's when Comcast first arrived in my neighborhood so I've been with the same ISP ever since. Back then, you'd create a few e-mail addresses through your ISP and that was just what folks used. I don't even think gmail was around back then. So I've been using a comcast address as my main address for a very long time. It just never occurred to me how "bad" that would be until recently.

Fast forward to today. My family has moved. Our current home is temporary until we find and purchase our next home and doesn't get Comcast. I don't know whether our final home will or won't get Comcast. So, as you can imagine, I have about a zillion accounts and stuff signed up under that old Comcast address that I've used for decades. It is going to take me a long time and alot of work to move all those to new accounts. I can continue to use those comcast e-mail addresses, even without an account, as long as I keep them active but I don't want to count on that. Who knows if comcast will suddenly decide to change its policy.

So I'd like to try and have an e-mail address that isn't "locked" to a specific ISP and something that is unlikely to go away or make me go through all this again in a few years. I also use Outlook as an e-mail client so I prefer to use that instead of just a web interface. I know alot of folks use gmail (which you can download to Outlook) but I prefer not to use a google service for my main e-mail needs. I use gmail mainly for garbage accounts and I'd rather not tie myself to google. I've heard some people advise to create an outlook.com account and I'm not sure if that is a good idea or a bad idea.

I've also heard of some that somehow get their own e-mail address domain ([email protected]) and then somehow forward that to another service. That way if they change their ISP then they just need to set up their new ISP to forward to that same old address. Maybe thats the best way? If this is the best way, where do you go to purchase your own e-mail address and how do you do it? How do you set that up? Or maybe you guys somehow set up your own e-mail servers using a NAS or something?

I have no idea what the best plan here is or what my options are. I figured I'd throw a post up here and see if someone could at least point me in the right direction. Just curious on the way you guys handle e-mail. Once I finish getting some other solution set up I really don't want to have to migrate all these accounts again for a very very very long time as this is going to be un-fun.

Thanks!
Great question.

First, I'd recommend using outlook.com for email, especially if you like using Outlook client. It supports activesync which is the protocol Outlook client uses to setup the profile on the client. Gmail and Outlook don't work well together unless you use a syncing tool that Google provides, even then, it's not great but does work. If someone wants to use an email client with Gmail I would recommend the built in Windows one or the client that Gmail makes on phones. Outlook also supports creating alias addresses which all go back to the same mailbox. This is all free.

After setting up the new email address, go to your Comcast addresses and go into the settings. There should be a way to forward your email. Type in the new address, so at least old stuff starts flowing to the new one. I would immediately move anything related to financial, bills, and healthcare over to the new address. These are ones that can ruin your life if they get left behind. You should only have a few, so it wouldn't take much time.

As for your idea of using a custom domain. That is possible, but it would be expensive. Services like GoDaddy sell domain names and can include email which they setup automatically for you. Setting up email servers is not something a novice can do, so using a built-in service is the way to go. But again, I wouldn't recommend this, I would recommend using outlook.com. If you have a business, then yes, do the custom address method because having a business address to outlook.com or gmail looks unprofessional.
 
The domain part itself is just buying a domain name and changing the MX (mail) address under the domain registrar's DNS settings to the address provided by the email service (whichever one you've chosen, eg: from various suggestions here a Microsoft service or Gmail or a paid service). The DNS settings are easily accessible in a registrar's user settings for their domain.

Once you own the domain you can do whatever with it in that regard.
 
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