Lesson Learned - Alternative Email providers

djmikmik · 2 Sep 2006, 12:59 AM

As we all suffer from this serious problem at Fastmail, I am looking to use a secondary email account to replace Fastmail.

This is Partial List of email providers that I know but never tried that MIGHT be a good replacement for Fastail:

-Gmail
-Yahoo
-Tuffmail
-Pobox
-Webmail.us

Please share your recommendations about other email providers that you are using.

Thanks!

vivil · 2 Sep 2006, 01:06 AM

not runbox

BinaryTB · 2 Sep 2006, 01:33 AM

Gmail...no IMAP
Pobox...I hear it's great for MX forwarding, but not worth the price for the mailbox
Tuffmail...That's what I'm currently checking out, been with them for their IMAP polling feature, will see how much of a pain it will be to transfer the whole family over there (plus they already have family accounts, which I've been waiting on for a while at FM anyway).
Runbox...no clue, but I believe they had a 24? 48? hour outage too (can somebody clarify?)
Webmail.us....?

From all of them, Gmail and Fastmail get praises for their web interface, so if thats what you use most of the time, then try and stick it out with FM or switch to Gmail. Tuffmail is recommend if you use a client most of the time I believe, from what I've read in these forums anyway.

edit: typo

digp · 2 Sep 2006, 01:39 AM

I have moved to webmail.us

doubled · 2 Sep 2006, 01:42 AM

any experiences with yahoo mail? free or paid.

rcgabriel · 2 Sep 2006, 01:56 AM

Webmail.us looks like a good business-focused option with an SLA-guaranteed 99.99% uptime. I have no personal experience with them though.

Their description of their spam filtering definitely leaves something to be desired. Tuffmail has per-user Bayesian spam filtering - in my humble opinion, this is absolutely critical these days. Webmail.us throws out some marketing BS about their DNA Filtering (R) technology that amounts to exactly a hill of beans.

Webmail has web-based calendaring and some other useful features, but nothing can compare to the bliss I've been experiencing for the last 24 hours with Tuffmail's spam filtering. With about 15 minutes of work dropping some spam emails into the training folders, I've gotten a level of spam filtering precision that Fastmail could never match.

In terms of plans and pricing - Tuffmail has single mailbox plans starting at 28 bucks a year. The basic functional plan at webmail.us is 5 mailboxes w/ an extra gig of storage for 84 bucks a year. Webmail.us is clearly targeting small businesses, while Tuffmail has plans for individuals and small businesses.

If you are a power user, Tuffmail is probably the best choice. If you are not a techie, don't want to twiddle with spam filtering settings, and want the security of an SLA rather than just the guarantee of redundant infrastructure and replicated IMAP that Tuffmail offers, and aren't anal about getting no spam like I am, then Webmail.us is probably a better option.

torym · 2 Sep 2006, 01:57 AM

no imap, but otherwise, great spam filter, good service, large space allowances, consistent, usr friendly, and all free.

BinaryTB · 2 Sep 2006, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by doubled
any experiences with yahoo mail? free or paid.

I've got nothing negative so say about them, they offer space and reliability, their pay service allows POP access (IMAP too I think, but not advertised, at least a few years ago from what I remember). I wouldn't use them personally since there is no quick support access and their features leave something to be desired compared to other email providers (e.g. plus addressing for one). Good for the average non-techie person who just wants email access without customizing much.

muchacha · 2 Sep 2006, 02:21 AM

Anyone know anything about inbox.com?

djmikmik · 2 Sep 2006, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by muchacha
Anyone know anything about inbox.com?

I use them to store files. I do not use them for emails though.

I am very satisfied with their free 5GB storage.

muchacha · 2 Sep 2006, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by djmikmik
I use them to store files. I do not use them for emails though.

I am very satisfied with their free 5GB storage.

Any particular reason why you don't use it for emailing? Security??

djmikmik · 2 Sep 2006, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by muchacha
Any particular reason why you don't use it for emailing? Security??

Yes. I have fastmail...

(or should I use "had"?).

This way I don't need to pay extra for file storage.

registered_user · 2 Sep 2006, 03:09 AM

Tuffmail has a good reputation, but their past is peppered with a few major outages too. They haven't had a big one in a long time and they now have a reputation for great reliability, but they had their growing pains just like FastMail. It looks like Tuffmail learned a few lessons the hard way, but they did in fact learn.

This latest fiasco with FM is kind of mind boggling to me. I don't understand why the original replication plan (and servers) wasn't scrapped within the first 30 days of realizing it wasn't going to work (so that a better set of servers could be ordered and the other ones returned or sold or something). It's just been far too long since they started working on the replication servers and that really should've been done by now.

But I digress...

The one thing that makes me nervous about Tuffmail is that the servers seem to be located in Florida -- huricane territory. I could be mistaken about that, but that's what I've been led to believe.

Runbox has had serious reliability issues too. Search the forums for details.

Gmail is okay. The web client is awesome, but it's still a web client. Besides that it's POP only, and I'm not thrilled with their spam filters so far. Mail sent from GMail isn't always uber snappy either. There are intermittent delivery delays when sending from GMail that have persisted since the beta. Mail almost always gets to it's destination right away, but occasionally it gets stuck on one of Gmail's internal servers for a couple of hours before being sent (I've demonstrated this when sending to multiple recipient services too, not just when sending to FM or any other single service). It's wierd and I've never seen anything like it anywhere else, but it happens so rarely it's hard to say if it really impacts anybody.

Never heard of webmail.us. They don't look evil, but they're a completely unknown quantity as far as I can see. I'd try a more reputable service first.

soldierofsorrow · 2 Sep 2006, 05:25 AM

I have three gmail accounts which I use for non-personal email... I am happy with gmail, but their interface is just weird... to be honest... but still, it is a good and somewhat logical service...

Yahoo, sucks, hotmail is a joke, I am not familiar with the other services mentioned... I used inbox at some point, but I cant really remember what it was like...

**Sherry** · 2 Sep 2006, 05:54 AM

Webmail.us has had a problem a short time ago. Perhaps it is all fixed now and running fine?

Webmail.us is having issues, again!

Sherry

2 Sep 2006, 12:59 AM	#1
djmikmik Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 20	Lesson Learned - Alternative Email providers As we all suffer from this serious problem at Fastmail, I am looking to use a secondary email account to replace Fastmail. This is Partial List of email providers that I know but never tried that MIGHT be a good replacement for Fastail: -Gmail -Yahoo -Tuffmail -Pobox -Webmail.us Please share your recommendations about other email providers that you are using. Thanks! Last edited by djmikmik : 3 Sep 2006 at 04:23 AM.

2 Sep 2006, 01:57 AM	#7
torym Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 7	i love gmail. no imap, but otherwise, great spam filter, good service, large space allowances, consistent, usr friendly, and all free.

2 Sep 2006, 01:06 AM	#2
vivil Essential Contributor Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: France Posts: 472	not runbox

2 Sep 2006, 01:33 AM	#3
BinaryTB Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 271	Gmail...no IMAP Pobox...I hear it's great for MX forwarding, but not worth the price for the mailbox Tuffmail...That's what I'm currently checking out, been with them for their IMAP polling feature, will see how much of a pain it will be to transfer the whole family over there (plus they already have family accounts, which I've been waiting on for a while at FM anyway). Runbox...no clue, but I believe they had a 24? 48? hour outage too (can somebody clarify?) Webmail.us....? From all of them, Gmail and Fastmail get praises for their web interface, so if thats what you use most of the time, then try and stick it out with FM or switch to Gmail. Tuffmail is recommend if you use a client most of the time I believe, from what I've read in these forums anyway. edit: typo

2 Sep 2006, 01:39 AM	#4
digp Master of the @ Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,326	I have moved to webmail.us

2 Sep 2006, 01:42 AM	#5
doubled Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12	any experiences with yahoo mail? free or paid.

2 Sep 2006, 01:56 AM	#6
rcgabriel Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 21	Webmail.us looks like a good business-focused option with an SLA-guaranteed 99.99% uptime. I have no personal experience with them though. Their description of their spam filtering definitely leaves something to be desired. Tuffmail has per-user Bayesian spam filtering - in my humble opinion, this is absolutely critical these days. Webmail.us throws out some marketing BS about their DNA Filtering (R) technology that amounts to exactly a hill of beans. Webmail has web-based calendaring and some other useful features, but nothing can compare to the bliss I've been experiencing for the last 24 hours with Tuffmail's spam filtering. With about 15 minutes of work dropping some spam emails into the training folders, I've gotten a level of spam filtering precision that Fastmail could never match. In terms of plans and pricing - Tuffmail has single mailbox plans starting at 28 bucks a year. The basic functional plan at webmail.us is 5 mailboxes w/ an extra gig of storage for 84 bucks a year. Webmail.us is clearly targeting small businesses, while Tuffmail has plans for individuals and small businesses. If you are a power user, Tuffmail is probably the best choice. If you are not a techie, don't want to twiddle with spam filtering settings, and want the security of an SLA rather than just the guarantee of redundant infrastructure and replicated IMAP that Tuffmail offers, and aren't anal about getting no spam like I am, then Webmail.us is probably a better option.

2 Sep 2006, 02:21 AM	#9
muchacha Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 4	Anyone know anything about inbox.com?

2 Sep 2006, 03:09 AM	#13
registered_user Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 164	Tuffmail has a good reputation, but their past is peppered with a few major outages too. They haven't had a big one in a long time and they now have a reputation for great reliability, but they had their growing pains just like FastMail. It looks like Tuffmail learned a few lessons the hard way, but they did in fact learn. This latest fiasco with FM is kind of mind boggling to me. I don't understand why the original replication plan (and servers) wasn't scrapped within the first 30 days of realizing it wasn't going to work (so that a better set of servers could be ordered and the other ones returned or sold or something). It's just been far too long since they started working on the replication servers and that really should've been done by now. But I digress... The one thing that makes me nervous about Tuffmail is that the servers seem to be located in Florida -- huricane territory. I could be mistaken about that, but that's what I've been led to believe. Runbox has had serious reliability issues too. Search the forums for details. Gmail is okay. The web client is awesome, but it's still a web client. Besides that it's POP only, and I'm not thrilled with their spam filters so far. Mail sent from GMail isn't always uber snappy either. There are intermittent delivery delays when sending from GMail that have persisted since the beta. Mail almost always gets to it's destination right away, but occasionally it gets stuck on one of Gmail's internal servers for a couple of hours before being sent (I've demonstrated this when sending to multiple recipient services too, not just when sending to FM or any other single service). It's wierd and I've never seen anything like it anywhere else, but it happens so rarely it's hard to say if it really impacts anybody. Never heard of webmail.us. They don't look evil, but they're a completely unknown quantity as far as I can see. I'd try a more reputable service first.

2 Sep 2006, 05:25 AM	#14
soldierofsorrow Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 17	I have three gmail accounts which I use for non-personal email... I am happy with gmail, but their interface is just weird... to be honest... but still, it is a good and somewhat logical service... Yahoo, sucks, hotmail is a joke, I am not familiar with the other services mentioned... I used inbox at some point, but I cant really remember what it was like...

2 Sep 2006, 05:54 AM	#15
Sherry Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: USA Posts: 8,687	Webmail.us has had a problem a short time ago. Perhaps it is all fixed now and running fine? Webmail.us is having issues, again! Sherry