The old switcheroo: How to change email providers?
November 6, 2006 8:08 AM Subscribe
How can I simplify my email situation? Believe me, there's a lot
I need to rejigger my overly-complicated email setup to make it a little less byzantine. Here's the sitch:
I own my domain, which is registered through GoDaddy and hosted at Fastmail.fm (only mail goes there; I have no web pages). My mother, my wife and I use the domain, and we each have individual email accounts at Fastmail. Currently only my wife and mom use the Fastmail.fm site and/or download their mail from Fastmail; I'm having all of my mail forwarded to Gmail. I'd like to add my two children to the domain.
The real downside of this is that we are paying for three Fastmail accounts, and I'd rather they were all free Gmail accounts, especially when it comes to adding my kids. I like the Gmail web interface a lot better than Fastmail's, POP download and SMTP work fine, and Google has a better reputation for uptime than Fastmail. I'd like to obtain a Gmail Apps For Your Domain account, redirect my MX records there, and give my (low-tech) wife and mom Gmail accounts with my domain name on them, just like they have now.
I've changed ISPs and MX records for my employer before, but I had a big organization holding my hands and helping manage the timing, etc. Now I'm entirely on my own and I'm a little intimidated. How can I do all this and minimize the complication and downtime for all of us? Though barely computer literate, my mother is very dependent on email from correspondents worldwide and would not appreciate losing anything during a transition. Are Gmail Apps For My Domain accounts available to individuals, or are they only for business...and if I ask for and receive one, how long does it take to become active? Is it even necessary to get such an account to accomplish what I want (I presume it is, to have Google accept my MX records)? I know an MX record change can take up to 24 hours (and often much less), but I've never been clear about what happens to email during the transition...how likely is it that one or more messages will be orphaned? Is there anything I'm missing, questions I should be asking or other considerations I've missed? Thank you, Hivemind!
I need to rejigger my overly-complicated email setup to make it a little less byzantine. Here's the sitch:
I own my domain, which is registered through GoDaddy and hosted at Fastmail.fm (only mail goes there; I have no web pages). My mother, my wife and I use the domain, and we each have individual email accounts at Fastmail. Currently only my wife and mom use the Fastmail.fm site and/or download their mail from Fastmail; I'm having all of my mail forwarded to Gmail. I'd like to add my two children to the domain.
The real downside of this is that we are paying for three Fastmail accounts, and I'd rather they were all free Gmail accounts, especially when it comes to adding my kids. I like the Gmail web interface a lot better than Fastmail's, POP download and SMTP work fine, and Google has a better reputation for uptime than Fastmail. I'd like to obtain a Gmail Apps For Your Domain account, redirect my MX records there, and give my (low-tech) wife and mom Gmail accounts with my domain name on them, just like they have now.
I've changed ISPs and MX records for my employer before, but I had a big organization holding my hands and helping manage the timing, etc. Now I'm entirely on my own and I'm a little intimidated. How can I do all this and minimize the complication and downtime for all of us? Though barely computer literate, my mother is very dependent on email from correspondents worldwide and would not appreciate losing anything during a transition. Are Gmail Apps For My Domain accounts available to individuals, or are they only for business...and if I ask for and receive one, how long does it take to become active? Is it even necessary to get such an account to accomplish what I want (I presume it is, to have Google accept my MX records)? I know an MX record change can take up to 24 hours (and often much less), but I've never been clear about what happens to email during the transition...how likely is it that one or more messages will be orphaned? Is there anything I'm missing, questions I should be asking or other considerations I've missed? Thank you, Hivemind!
Oh, and as far as losing mail, you likely won't as long as you keep your fastmail accounts active through the transition and a little after, and set up a catchall that you can remove after everything's done.
posted by aberrant at 8:20 AM on November 6, 2006
posted by aberrant at 8:20 AM on November 6, 2006
I made the switch to Gmail Apps. I know/knew nothing about mx records, etc. Google will give you step by step instructions on changing your mx records for the various providers. I was using network solutions. It took about 1/2 hour to do and that was long because I had a hard time navigating the Network solutions site. They do not make it easy to find the mx records.
After I applied to google, it took a few days for them to accept and then a day or two to transfer the email. I never lost any emails, but there was a day or two when I was checking both sites (new and old).
When I applied to the beta gmail hosting, I left it vague about my website being a business. I don't think they cared, but I kept referring to my domain rather than my business. I use it for my family and even a friend who wanted one too. They gave my 25 email accounts.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:26 AM on November 6, 2006
After I applied to google, it took a few days for them to accept and then a day or two to transfer the email. I never lost any emails, but there was a day or two when I was checking both sites (new and old).
When I applied to the beta gmail hosting, I left it vague about my website being a business. I don't think they cared, but I kept referring to my domain rather than my business. I use it for my family and even a friend who wanted one too. They gave my 25 email accounts.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:26 AM on November 6, 2006
Are Gmail Apps For My Domain accounts available to individuals, or are they only for business...and if I ask for and receive one, how long does it take to become active?
I signed up for 'gmail apps' and I'm an individual, so no, you don't have to be a business. It took no time for it to become active and gmail has easy directons.
Much more seamless than having godaddy forward emails.
posted by justgary at 8:32 AM on November 6, 2006
I signed up for 'gmail apps' and I'm an individual, so no, you don't have to be a business. It took no time for it to become active and gmail has easy directons.
Much more seamless than having godaddy forward emails.
posted by justgary at 8:32 AM on November 6, 2006
Gmail for Domains is available for any domain. I set it up recently for my work, and it was a snap. Start the process at Google, and read through their material. It was much easier then I thought it would be, and I am very happy that I switched us over. Google's help docs were everything that I needed, just start digging in and reading them.
Mail won't be missed, but it will need to be checked in both locations for the duration of the switch over. I was originally going to come in over the weekend to handle it all, but I ended up doing in it in about 10 minutes over lunch. No one (out of a dozen people) missed any email.
My move went like this:
1. Sign up for Google Apps for Domains (this was a very short waiting period - 30 minutes and I was in. You may need to wait longer to be accepted)
2. Configure gmail accounts matching all the existing accounts
3. Set up desktop email clients to check for mail at the gmail accounts in addition to the old accounts.
4. Inform everyone of their new address to log in for web mail, and that might need to check their new and old accounts for the next 48 hours (just to be sure).
5. Switch over the MX records.
6. 48 hours later: disabled the old accounts and waited for complaints.
7. Re-enabled a couple old accounts so that users could download some saved messages.
8. Re-disabled the old accounts.
posted by voidcontext at 8:33 AM on November 6, 2006
Mail won't be missed, but it will need to be checked in both locations for the duration of the switch over. I was originally going to come in over the weekend to handle it all, but I ended up doing in it in about 10 minutes over lunch. No one (out of a dozen people) missed any email.
My move went like this:
1. Sign up for Google Apps for Domains (this was a very short waiting period - 30 minutes and I was in. You may need to wait longer to be accepted)
2. Configure gmail accounts matching all the existing accounts
3. Set up desktop email clients to check for mail at the gmail accounts in addition to the old accounts.
4. Inform everyone of their new address to log in for web mail, and that might need to check their new and old accounts for the next 48 hours (just to be sure).
5. Switch over the MX records.
6. 48 hours later: disabled the old accounts and waited for complaints.
7. Re-enabled a couple old accounts so that users could download some saved messages.
8. Re-disabled the old accounts.
posted by voidcontext at 8:33 AM on November 6, 2006
A question for people who switched their mail to Google Apps for Domains: did they have a way to import your old mail, so you could view it with the gmail web-mail client?
posted by blue grama at 8:02 PM on November 6, 2006
posted by blue grama at 8:02 PM on November 6, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's free - I think you get 50 forwards per domain.
posted by aberrant at 8:16 AM on November 6, 2006