Verizon standalone email account?

February 12, 2007 11:18 AM

Does Verizon offer any method of preserving your '@verizon.net' email account, independent from having DSL service with them?

First off, I realize the definitive answer for this lies with Verizon themselves, but I'm still exploring my options and aren't yet ready to spend time on the phone with their support or sales departments; so I'm looking for anecdotes/deeply-buried FAQs beforehand.

Secondly, here's the issue: we've had Verizon DSL for years, recently moved, and are having connection problems at the new place which may be due to our distance from the CO (and thus unfixable). So I'm thinking of switching us to cable broadband.

The hitch is that my fiancee's primary email address -- used to keep in touch with friends & family, and for career-related networking (she rarely has a long-term job and needs to stay in touch with local industry folks in order to find new work) -- is the Verizon one that comes with the DSL account.

I'm hoping that Verizon will, somehow, offer a standalone email service (especially since we'd still be using them for phone service) or at least some sort of residual forwarding service (i.e. keeping the email account active for another year or so and forwarding it to a new one).

Has anyone heard of Verizon doing such a thing? Are there other options I'm not thinking of?

posted by cyrusdogstar to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

Rather than cable broadband, see if Verizon offers its fiber optic broadband service, FiOS in your area. You can keep the email address and get great connection spead. If they do not offer this service, I defer to others for how to keep the email addy.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:23 AM on February 12, 2007

Response by poster: Gack, sorry, totally forgot to mention that. They do not currently offer FiOS, much to my dismay, otherwise I totally would've gone that route.

So an addendum question would be: when/where will Verizon roll out FiOS in my area - I know that in December they contracted with the entire state of New Jersey (we live in Jersey City) to roll out FiOS, and many areas already have it, but not Hudson County, apparently.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:36 AM on February 12, 2007

I can't answer your question about Verizon but it sounds like it would be a wise idea for your fiance to move to a web based email she can access anywhere and with any ISP. Obviously making her friends, family, and work contacts aware of the change will take time and is probably somewhat of a headache but I think it's a better long term plan to not have an email address tied to one ISP.
posted by 6550 at 12:44 PM on February 12, 2007

Response by poster: (sorry for thread babysitting :))

6550, I wholeheartedly agree, and I hope that at some point in the future we'll be able to get her onto a self-hosted domain (I have one for myself) but right now, with the physical address change headaches and overall stress of the apartment move, another headache would be unwelcome.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 12:56 PM on February 12, 2007

Does she ever have problem accessing her email at the new apartment? Perhaps a less ideal solution, if Verizon won't continue to provide the email address, would be to retain the Verizon account simply for email access. There might be a cheaper, lower speed plan as well. Then you can get cable for regular internet access. If that's workable then it removes the immediate need of solving her email issues.
posted by 6550 at 1:00 PM on February 12, 2007

Agree with 6550. Get cable and change your verizon account to the lowest possible just to keep the email until you work out her own domain.

You could get a Verizon wireless plan for your laptop that would provide for the email address and give access to the net for your fiancee.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:25 PM on February 12, 2007

Response by poster: Yea, that's definitely an option - not ideal, since the cheapest internet-related plan I've been able to find is still $20/mo, which is kinda expensive for just an email account. But it's an option :) and we both use the Internet pretty heavily, so the constant service drops we're experiencing get to be a real pain in the behind.

Thanks for the brainstorming, guys, it's appreciated :)
posted by cyrusdogstar at 1:47 PM on February 12, 2007

Response by poster: Oh, and was just tipped off by another forum that dialup is only $10/mo - should thought of that myself.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 1:55 PM on February 12, 2007

I always advise people to get a Gmail address as soon as they start thinking about jumping ship and getting a different ISP. This doesn't avoid the immediate pain of having to update all your contacts, but at least it stops you ever needing to do it again.
posted by flabdablet at 2:42 PM on February 12, 2007

Oh, and was just tipped off by another forum that dialup is only $10/mo - should thought of that myself.

Are you sure? According to the Verizon website, their cheapest dialup plan is $19.95.
posted by RichardP at 2:52 PM on February 12, 2007

Response by poster: I found this via Google. At any rate, I'm fairly confident that I can get something for ~$10, the stuff listed on their websites are often not 100% in line with what they offer locally, or when you've got a live human on the line.

Even if it's $20, if I'm lucky I can convince my fiancee to migrate to another address sometime in the next few months, so eventually it should cease to be a problem. I hope.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 3:05 PM on February 12, 2007

There are almost always non-advertised "Save" plans that offer no frills for cheaper than their advertised plans. Call in and say you are interested in cancelling but would like to keep your email address. Ask if there are any plans available for minimal access. Keep pressing if they say $19.95 is the cheapest.
posted by Octoparrot at 5:35 PM on February 12, 2007