Although I have hotmail (free) accounts I also have my own paid for e-mail address(s). By having it that way I'm not tied to any service provider. The email address is mine (as is the domain). ISP email sound a good idea until you want to move. Then, ok you move to a new ISP and start using their email service, then you want to move again...........

With your own email address you are boss. Saves a lot of hassle. Gmail is another route but Google has too much info already for my liking without adding to it.

Eeee . Exactly my opinion.

OK.

That simplifies things re gmail (googlemail).

What we don't know, and is relevant, is why you want to migrate. If it is principally to save money then gmail is the way to go. That's assuming BT no longer allow free retention of your BT email address. They used to, but I think they no longer do. If they do, you probably have nothing to change.

If it is mainly from dissatisfaction with their broadband, or if £1.60pm is not a deal-breaker even if cost was the driver, then as well as gmail you have a choice between paying their £1.60pm or slightly less (though in annual/bi-ennial payments) for host-based email and perhaps web space as I've already discussed.

In terms of simplicity, given that you are using Thunderbird, all those are the same. Or were until I just saw the worry about Thunderbird and gmail.

I use Thunderbird and Tsohost and have migrated three times since moving from ISP-based email. No problems at all.

The important thing if you go either to gmail or a hosted service is that you do it as early as possible. The point being that you need to start sending from the new address ASAP; telling (using it) all contacts about the change and changing shopping contact details as well. This gives you a bit of time to spot any you have missed still coming in to the BT address.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In terms of simplicity, given that you are using Thunderbird, all those are the same. Or were until I just saw the worry about Thunderbird and gmail.

No worry, it works fine. One can either enable "Access for less secure apps" in Gmail, or preferably enable 2-step verification and generate an "app password".

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

You do realise that Neil's idea is to ditch your BT email address soon after leaving them? I'm not sure how long BT keep it open these days.

I never said that! I said: "configure Thunderbird to include your Gmail address "
Note the underlined "include". Where did I say ditch your BT address???

As you said, not seeing the wood for the trees?

The wood is that she would prefer not to lose her BT email address/service. Andrew has provided the solution to that. £1.60pm.

If she retains her BT email address, then there isn't anything to solve. Gmail and all the other solutions are irrelevant. She will only need gmail or one of the other suggestions if she loses the BT email.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 02-Jan-15 22:27:59)

In reply to a post by Stevenage_Neil:

Gmail stores everything:- If you "delete" something from your Inbox it will still be retained in "Bin", Trash", or "Recycle". You have to open the appropriate one and delete to finally get rid of it. Same for "Sent Mail".

Not if you are using POP3 access from a mail client like TB and not leaving msgs on the server.

Even if you do leave stuff on the server there is the issue that most providers' mailboxes are of limited size (Gmail = 15 GB) and you run the risk of losing the older ones if you exhaust it.

Also what you say for "Sent Mail".is not true when you are using a mail client to do the sending. GMail never sees such Sent Items.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sat 03-Jan-15 02:05:30)

Thank you very much for all helpful info to summarize, I either pay BT keep email address or sign up for free gmail. Cheers

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Also what you say for "Sent Mail".is not true when you are using a mail client to do the sending. GMail never sees such Sent Items.

I must be doing something wrong then. Whenever I send something from Outlook, via my GMail account, it is always retained in my GMail Sent folder.........

Just adding my thoughts to this discussion...

I also recommend GMail to people - great spam and malware filtering which helps a lot of people. Their email is available from any internet device and they don't have to worry about backing their data up.

I'm a Google fan but also have my own domain names.
Using a combination of email addresses works well for me.

When people register their own domain it's worth pointing out that this can make them easy to trace! i.e. If they have their WHOIS information on show strangers can see their registered (home?) address. Also some people pick the house name etc. as part of their domain perhaps giving away too much information if talking to strangers...

Just something for people to be aware of

Edited by b4dger (Sat 03-Jan-15 12:09:17)