Exchange Hosting

[Guest Jasonkruys]

I have just received an email to say that my subscription to my 4smartphone pro service expires in 1 week, and my account will be deleted. I am now deciding what to do next.

I have done a search and there is not a lot of recent information, so...

I am hesitant to renew 4smartphone because:

1. Outlook access is very, very slow

2. A few months ago there was that big debacle about them losing all (or most) of the mailboxes. It might have been fine, but it took them 6 weeks to restore my mailbox, as I was apparently at the end of the queue. I was also disappointed that after the first flood of a few emails in the first week after it happened, there was very little communication from them thereafter, even when I was emailing their support myself.

3. After 4 emails they seem unable to tell me when the upgrade to exchange 2007 will take place (or even repsond - i would be happy in units of years, anything!). If it wasn't for the fact that after they eventually restored my mailbox that they stated "In addition, we are taking the following steps concerning the current Exchange 2003 servers: 4SmartPhone is rolling out more reliable Exchange 2007 on a brand new architecture; The fact that Exchange 2007 is more robust and combined with the new architecture, any failure are less likely, simpler and faster to recover from should we have to" I might not be that persistent.

I am hesitant to try and 1and1 because of the enforced security policy...Not a big issue, but nobody has sung their praises loud enough for me to overlook it..

So does that leave me any options? If so, any that offer exchange 2007? I appreciate that the services above are very good value (read: cheap!) so I appreciate that a little more money may be required, has anyone got any recommendations?

Thanks

[Guest chucky.egg]

1&1 are "fine", but no better.

The enforced policy worried me initially, and their untrained monkey support service having access to wipe my device still sits a little uneasy.

What about mail2web.com - they offer a free or a paid-for service, the latter allows you to specify your own email address I think.

I don't use them, others might have an opinion

[Guest M@rkC]

What about mail2web.com - they offer a free or a paid-for service, the latter allows you to specify your own email address I think.

I don't use them, others might have an opinion

I use the "free" Mail2Web service and have found it to be pretty good; I don't punt a lot of mail through it, so speed has never really been an issue - YMMV :rolleyes:

There is a guy over at xda-devs who hosts a Exchange 2007 service - have a look at this page to see what you think. I've considered switching, but given that my volumes are low, and also that I wouldn't push any of my business mail through a 3rd party (I'd probably have to lynch myself as I work for a tech company, doing mostly IT security :P ) I've not bothered so far....

At the end of the day, you need to decide on the factors that are most important to you; speed, cost, features etc. and base your decision on who is offering what you need at a price you're willing to pay.

HTH,

Mark.

[Guest jimbouk]

I have been with 4smartphone for 18 months. Have had one four hour outage in that time. They emailed and apologised that the vackup server failed to kick in. I hadn't heard about them losing mailboxes etc...

I will be renewing with them again.

[Guest Jasonkruys]

1&1 are "fine", but no better.

The enforced policy worried me initially, and their untrained monkey support service having access to wipe my device still sits a little uneasy.

What about mail2web.com - they offer a free or a paid-for service, the latter allows you to specify your own email address I think.

I don't use them, others might have an opinion

I might give 1&1 a try, although depending on which page you look at, depends on whether it says they have Exchange 2007 or 2003. I am assuming 2007?

Also, is Desktop Outlook access speedy enough?

And lastly, can I specify a reply email address... ie with 4 smartphone although all email had to be directed to the convoluted address they gave me, on outgoing messages I could specify to them what I wanted it to say...

[Guest chucky.egg]

TBH I don't know if it's 2003 or 2007 - I don't have a WM6 device to notice the difference

Desktop Outlook is fine, although I do sometimes (1 or 2 times per week) have Outlook struggle to reach the server - that might be the way we hammer our internet connection though.

With 1&1 you buy/transfer your own domain name in, so you can choose whatever address you like at that domain. You can also have a "catch all address" (*@yourdomain.com) and forwarders. What costs money is having more mailboxes - you have to buy an additional Exchange account.

I'm told that if you get their basic mail package (£1.50/month or something) you can then create 20 mailboxes, then upgrade and convert one into an Exchange account. I never got a straight answer on that though. That's the big problem with 1&1, if you have to go to tech support (which you rarely have to do) it can be painful.

[Guest Jasonkruys]

Thanks for the help Chucky..

So with 1and1, I would transfer my current domain from 123reg to 1and1. They would then link the domain to my exchange account, and using outlook in the 'reply to' box or whatever, I could specify anything@mydomain as a reply address?

What control will I then have over my domain? I currently, with 123reg:

1. Point www.mydomain.co.uk to my Aquiss webspace ( a simple 'redirect to' form on the control panel)

2. Have the facility to specify the individual destination of 5 [email protected] email address

3. Have the facility to specify a destination / return to sender / etc for [email protected].

with this, I have a [email protected] going to my exchange mailbox, [email protected] going to exhange, [email protected] changing constantly - exchange when I want to receive mail from work collegues and I redirect it to hotmail when I dont (or delete it!)...and finally use (not specified) going to my isp pop3 account..

Would I easily be able to the above after transferring my domain to 1and1, I guess I am asking what options and stuff you have in the control panel...

[Guest chucky.egg]

So with 1and1, I would transfer my current domain from 123reg to 1and1. They would then link the domain to my exchange account, and using outlook in the 'reply to' box or whatever, I could specify anything@mydomain as a reply address?

Yes

1. Point www.mydomain.co.uk to my Aquiss webspace ( a simple 'redirect to' form on the control panel)

Dunno Aquiss, but I'd say Yes

2. Have the facility to specify the individual destination of 5 [email protected] email address

Yes and No. You have one mailbox, and can point any number of forwarders to it. EG:

Mailbox is [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

You then setup Rules in Outlook to move the emails, based on the recipients address (which doesn't get changed when its forwarded) to a sub-folder or whatever.

3. Have the facility to specify a destination / return to sender / etc for [email protected].

If you have a Catch All set (as a forwarder) it behaves like any other forwarder.

If you don't have one then mail to [email protected] gets bounced back to the sender

Would I easily be able to the above after transferring my domain to 1and1, I guess I am asking what options and stuff you have in the control panel...

Moving is very easy, a colleague just did the same thing (from a different host). Took 2-3 days I think, but was very smooth. Bear in mind that when it first gets to 1&1 you'll have no email addresses setup - so no email until you get in there and do it!

Control Panel has loads of features, and is very reliable. Never had a problem with it, which is why you very rarely need Tech Support.

[Guest Jasonkruys]

Yes and No. You have one mailbox, and can point any number of forwarders to it. EG:

Mailbox is [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

Forward [email protected] to [email protected]

You then setup Rules in Outlook to move the emails, based on the recipients address (which doesn't get changed when its forwarded) to a sub-folder or whatever.

If you have a Catch All set (as a forwarder) it behaves like any other forwarder.

If you don't have one then mail to [email protected] gets bounced back to the sender

I REALLY appreciate the time you are taking to sift through my gabble, thanks very much.

One last clarification, I think!

From the above, from the control panel or whatever, I would be able to setup the following:

[email protected] > [email protected]

[email protected] > [email protected]

[email protected] > [email protected] (once it's setup, easy to delete, and setup again?)

[email protected] > [email protected]

And lastly, when composing an email, if I hit the message options, I can fill in 'have replies sent to' - [email protected] and thats where the 'from' address will be in the recipients mailbox?

Sorry if I appear to be asking the same thing again and again...just getting confused, but I think I understand now!! Possibly the problem I have is that the control panel in 123reg is simple, restricted, and almost Tomy-like lol.

[Guest jchamier]

I'm with ServeLogic (formerly known as HostLogic) since I ditched 4smartphone due to massive crash, and incredibly slow recovery. (I left after 2 weeks with no data recovered).

My domain is hosted with Gradwell.com and they allow me to SMTP forward, so 4smartphone and ServeLogic think I have moved my MX records, but I get the benefit of running through Gradwell's antispam and rules system first. Very powerful.

ServeLogic's OWA is fast from the UK, since they claim the servers are in Warwickshire, whereas 4smartphone worked well on my SP5 and Vario II, but painfully slow on Outlook 2003, and OWA was unusable. Not surprising given they are in Phoenix Arizona.

ServeLogic have a requirement for a security policy, but you are able to customise it, so I have the password set at 24hours, which I have no problem with.

The downsides:

* No statement on any 2007 support

* OWA doesn't have the Jan 2007 fixes from MS for Vista / IE7 (so if using Vista I cannot send mail)

http://www.servelogic.com

[Guest chucky.egg]

NP

Redirecting workstuff@ is easy to do through the Control Panel, but I don't think you can access it from your mobile (never tried TBH). It's something you'd do from your PC normally.

What you'd do is create the forwarder and point it where you wanted it right then. When you wanted it to go to another destination you simply go into the control panel, edit the forward to point to a different address, and you're done.

noneoftheabove@ forwarding works the same way - you'd setup a forward with an address of *@my.com (use the * character) and point it to [email protected]. Easy, but do you really want all that spam?

"have replies sent to" isn't the same as the "From" email address. I don't think it is anyway. "From" is whatever you've set as your own email address, whereas "Have replies sent to" is a way of redirecting incoming mail. You can set your own email address, and reply address, in Outlook Options, and use "Have replies sent to" to get replies sent somewhere other than back to you, but the address they see will still be yours. I think. I'm testing it now, will report back!

NP, ask away. I remember how I felt before I moved hosts!

[Guest chucky.egg]

ServeLogic have a requirement for a security policy, but you are able to customise it, so I have the password set at 24hours, which I have no problem with

I had mine on 24 hours, which was fine - no hassle at all really.

I've had to reduce mine to 1hr for work reasons, but even that's not a lot of trouble

[Guest Jasonkruys]

NP

Redirecting workstuff@ is easy to do through the Control Panel, but I don't think you can access it from your mobile (never tried TBH). It's something you'd do from your PC normally.

What you'd do is create the forwarder and point it where you wanted it right then. When you wanted it to go to another destination you simply go into the control panel, edit the forward to point to a different address, and you're done.

noneoftheabove@ forwarding works the same way - you'd setup a forward with an address of *@my.com (use the * character) and point it to [email protected]. Easy, but do you really want all that spam?

"have replies sent to" isn't the same as the "From" email address. I don't think it is anyway. "From" is whatever you've set as your own email address, whereas "Have replies sent to" is a way of redirecting incoming mail. You can set your own email address, and reply address, in Outlook Options, and use "Have replies sent to" to get replies sent somewhere other than back to you, but the address they see will still be yours. I think. I'm testing it now, will report back!

NP, ask away. I remember how I felt before I moved hosts!

Right, I get it..

workstuff@ is as I thought, perfect.

noneoftheabove@ - perfect, at the moment (touch wood) I have had no spam, but a couple where people cant type but it caught them anyway!

Crux of the last bit, is in outlook (somewhere, wherever) I can set my email address as [email protected], and that is where it will come from. I also have the facility to 'have replies sent to' additional addresses/people as well.. marvellous. Thanks chucky.

jchamier - thanks for your input, I will investigate that also :rolleyes:

[Guest chucky.egg]

in outlook (somewhere, wherever) I can set my email address as [email protected]

Where you configure your email account, it's a one-off process

I tested "have replies sent to" and they appear from my main account, but when you hit reply they reply is addressed to whatever you specify in that individual message

[Guest Jasonkruys]

Where you configure your email account, it's a one-off process

I tested "have replies sent to" and they appear from my main account, but when you hit reply they reply is addressed to whatever you specify in that individual message

Got it. Thanks for doing that also, thanks very much indeed :rolleyes:

[Guest chucky.egg]

No problem

[Guest Jasonkruys]

Right, in three hours, I have been able to sign up to 1and1, Transfer my domain to them, setup the exchange account and upload my current 57mb .pst file to the server for synchronisation.... which is apparently happening now (could take an hour it says).

Now from here, In Outlook, I delete my current exchange server (which will presumably delete all the emails etc locally), and run the batch script and .prf settings file to sync outlook with the 1and1 server and download everything again - correct?

I am struggling to find any information on what settings to enter onto my Universal...presumably I do the same, delete the server settings on my Uni (thus deleting current emails etc), then enter the settings in activesync on the phone...where can I find these settings? Is it as simple as:

Server address: exchange.1and1.co.uk

User name: exxxxxxxxx

Password: exchange password

domain: EXCHANGE

I will try and make that the last question :rolleyes:

EDIT: I lied. I have 1 email in my inbox telling me that the pst file has been imported, but nothing else, none of my folders, emails or contacts.....What is the best way to get what I currently have in Outlook (on my old exchange server) into the 1and1 server? I thought sync'ing the .pst file would do it :S

Edited June 20, 2007 by Jasonkruys

[Guest Jasonkruys]

Ok..got my phone syncing with the settings detailed above.

The pst file I uploaded would not sync through the xadmin bit, so in the end once I was all setup on Outlook, I imported the .pst file locally and sync'd it up to the server that way...probably the best way..

All seems to be sorted now,

Thanks for everyone's help :rolleyes: