Vodafone (Demon) Internet dropping free e-mail service (to be £30.60p.a. per address)

pol098

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Yes please - I can configure a mail server fine using text based config files on linux, but find the web interface to manage the office outlook platform a real struggle.

I'd agree with that. I have things set up so I use POP3/IMAP, and non-NamesCo SMTP, and don't have to touch the Web interface except to try to persuade it to deliver stuff.

OK. What I have, and presumably so do you, is an account with login name [EMAIL="admin@mydomaindemononcasca.onmicrosoft.com"]admin@mydomaindemononcasca.onmicrosoft.com[/EMAIL] with no mailbox, and a mail account associated with [EMAIL="myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk"]myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk[/EMAIL]. For administration I have to log in to site https://portal.microsoftonline.com as the admin account (after finishing, if I need to login as the mail user it is sometimes necessary to close and reopen the browser). After logging in as admin... go into the Admin option. From the sidebar select Users > Active users. I find two users, [EMAIL="admin@mydomaindemononcasca.onmicrosoft.com"]admin@mydomaindemononcasca.onmicrosoft.com[/EMAIL] (unlicensed) and [EMAIL="myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk"]myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk[/EMAIL] (Exchange Online Essentials licence). Double-click the second one. You will get a popup windows for [EMAIL="myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk"]myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk[/EMAIL] with an "Edit" option; click it. That will enable you, in a fairly obvious way, to add as many aliases as you want. They all go to the same [EMAIL="myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk"]myname@mydomain.demon.co.uk[/EMAIL] mailbox. As does not surprise me from Microsoft, this is more or less hidden; the two obvious options, Active users > Add a user and Groups > Shared mailboxes are quite different, and not for us. After basking for a moment in admiration for having discovered this, I must confess I didn't; after setting up some shared mailboxes and trying to add some users I phoned support, who held my hand.

If you are able to get all mail delivered to you (including junk + viruses) let me know; I've been unable to do that. I've been fiddling with settings, but still get a lot of mail delivered to the "Junk" mailbox (accessible via IMAP and Web mail, but not POP3 as far as I know, and deleted after a few days), and a fair amount of stuff I've sent as tests vanishes into thin air. Most test mail I send myself, usually with a few words of text as body, is considered bulk mail.

I think the way to go for the future is not to use an email address tied to an ISP, but to buy a domain and move it to whatever mail service I choose to use for the moment.

HTH

onomatopoeia99

Thank you I will do that this evening when I get home and see how I get on. I have a personal domain, but after using the same email address since 1994 the thought of changing it is daunting!

onomatopoeia99

Seem to have aliases working now. Haven't pursued getting a catch all mail box yet, but might have a go at namesco in the new year and see if I can make some progress.

deskhelp

Yes it always a better option to consider.