places to buy domain name after migration from F2S

[krysia]

I'll be very reluctantly migrating from F2S if the Tiscali takeover goes ahead, and I guess there's always the chance that any ISP I move to will itself be taken over eventually. Since I don't want to have to keep changing my e-mail address every time I change ISP, I was thinking of buying a domain name to set up permanent e-mail addresses and then using e-mail forwarding to my new ISP's e-mail accounts. Easily and UK2 have both been recommended to me as reliable places to buy a domain name, and both have free e-mail forwarding, but I'm not sure how to choose between them: their prices are quite different, and I don't have enough technical knowledge to understand if they're basically offering the same services. Does anyone have experience of either or any other recommendations/advice?

I've been considering something similar. As far as I can see from the two you mentioned they are slightly different, though it depends what you're after.

UK2 is more about domain registration, but they give you a free 100MB e-mail account with POP3 and webmail access. I can't see what their traffic limit is, and I've come across some bad reviews which suggest the pricing isn't as cheap/simple as they imply. Easily have specific e-mail packages which also provide IMAP, anti-virus and spam filtering. The storage and allowed traffic seems very limited though.

I've been fairly tempted by Weycrest. It's a bit more expensive, but you get 10 addresses (plus unlimited aliases), 1GB of storage and unlimited traffic. I think you may have to pay for e-mail hosting and domain registration separately though, which will bump the cost up. There are plenty of other similar hosting services out there of course.

Basically, if you just want a domain name which forwards e-mail to your ISP account, UK2 would probably be sufficient (bearing in mind you may end up getting the service you pay for). If you're a heavy e-mail user who wants multiple large accounts and IMAP access then Weycrest (or similar) might be a better option.

[krysia]

Thanks, Arakeen - that's very helpful. I'll give UK2 a miss after seeing those reviews. Easily looks very good - from what I can tell, I'd just need to register a domain name with them and have e-mails forwarded to my ISP address. So I don't think storage is an issue, though perhaps traffic is - it's not clear if there's a limit. Weycrest also looks good - it's a bit cheaper to register a domain name than Easily is, and it's also tempting to opt for the 1 GB mailbox for just £15 a year rather than use e-mail forwarding. If any one else has useful tips/experience/advice, it'd be much appreciated.

[Nick A J]

Hi,

We have a couple of names registered at 1and1 internet. They charge £1.99 per year to register the name and you can have upto 100 aliases accorrding to their website.

We also pay for a block of 5 email address which costs £0.87 a month this includes a pretty good spam filter plus more aliases etc.

Had these for a couple of years with no problems.

[Howlingwolf]

As far as I am aware there are no traffic limits for email forwarding. In fact I've never even heard of such a thing. But if it's of concern then the best option is to contact them and ask.

Also 1&1 is on my 'to be avoided' list for good reason. As with any supplier there will always be customers, sometimes the majority, who never have any problems with them but that isn't any comfort if you happen to be the one who does.

In general, it's always best to avoid registrars offering cut price domains. Some will be scams, others will only be for the domain with hosting etc. an optional extra, some will be genuinely trying but simply unable to provide a reliable service.

Here are some reviews of Easily from the same site referenced by arakeen - http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/easily_co_uk__77654 - Just don't believe the one about there being no Customer Service

[atsw]

Originally Posted by Nick A J

We have a couple of names registered at 1and1 internet. They charge £1.99 per year to register the name and you can have upto 100 aliases accorrding to their website.

We also pay for a block of 5 email address which costs £0.87 a month this includes a pretty good spam filter plus more aliases etc.

Had these for a couple of years with no problems.

I've got Domains with 1and1, Simply and 123reg. All were cheap to set up, and with the exception of the 1and1 account, all do basic web and e-mail forwarding to my free F2S e-mail(s) and webspace. The cost to watch is the renewal cost after the first two years. With my three Simply accounts it's £20, with the two 123reg accounts it's less than £8 for exactly the same service (which reminds me, I really must get around to moving my Domains away from Simply!!!).

With 1and1 my e-mail accounts are hosted as proper POP3 / IMAP accounts, all have worked flawlessly, which is all I ask for my £1 a month. They also provide SMTP access on alternative ports (i.e. not just Port 25), which is good if your ISP blocks port 25 on the basic accounts (like Be for example).

Cheers

Andrew

[krysia]

Thanks, everyone. I'd seen those reviews of Easily already and was very impressed, and I was already leaning towards it because of an earlier recommendation from Howlingwolf - I've e-mailed them to check about whether there are traffic limits.

It's both interesting and depressing to check out other ISPs and have confirmed how much F2S offers in relation to everyone else: IDNet allocates 100 MB to each mailbox but at least doesn't limit the number, while ADSL24 gives just 200MB of webspace to divide between all e-mail accounts and website. I wish I could find a match for F2S's current 200MB for each mailbox (I know 20's the limit!).

And may I recommend Heart Internet:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/index.shtml

These are the guys who owned 123-reg before Pipex bought them out. Domain Registration, Web Hosting all for not a lot of cash and absolutely no rip-offs along the way.

You can register your own web site for around £6 for 2 years (includes Nominet's registration fee) and receive 100 mail boxes, mail forwarding, what have you, without all the hassle of down time. Last time I checked, up time was 100%.

[wfnuk]

Originally Posted by Trevor

And may I recommend Heart Internet:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/index.shtml

These are the guys who owned 123-reg before Pipex bought them out. Domain Registration, Web Hosting all for not a lot of cash and absolutely no rip-offs along the way.

You can register your own web site for around £6 for 2 years (includes Nominet's registration fee) and receive 100 mail boxes, mail forwarding, what have you, without all the hassle of down time. Last time I checked, up time was 100%.

If you already have a domain and are an ADSL24 customer, they will host it for free and also provide unlimited, (I think), domain e-mail addresses free too (the current domain e-mail cost with F2S is, I think, £24.00 p.a. ).

[gomez]

My domains have been registered using UK2 for a few years. However this year they started charging extra for "catch all" email forwarding. Supposed to be an anti-spam measure but for me it was a right PITA as I tend to use a different anyname@mydomain.co.uk for each organisation I have dealings with so as I can identify where my my email address has been harvested from.

So you can only have myspecificname@mydomain.co.uk forwarding without paying extra. Fortunately, I was able to move my email hosting and forwarding to the servers of a friend's company for beer money while still keeping the domain registration with UK2.

[Nick A J]

Originally Posted by krysia

Thanks, everyone. I'd seen those reviews of Easily already and was very impressed, and I was already leaning towards it because of an earlier recommendation from Howlingwolf - I've e-mailed them to check about whether there are traffic limits.

It's both interesting and depressing to check out other ISPs and have confirmed how much F2S offers in relation to everyone else: IDNet allocates 100 MB to each mailbox but at least doesn't limit the number, while ADSL24 gives just 200MB of webspace to divide between all e-mail accounts and website. I wish I could find a match for F2S's current 200MB for each mailbox (I know 20's the limit!).

Yes and there's no web space with IDNet. It's a shame it would be a good package otherwise, especially as they only count downloads in the allowances. Ideal for on-line backup!

With 1and1 you have to pay for mailboxes, but they are 2GB each! But you can set up all your aliases to forward mail onto your "unlimited number of IDNet mailboxes"

[iansmythe]

I've used most of those mentioned over the past few years so here's my tuppence worth.

UK2 - So-so service, crap support, costs £30 per domain to transfer out.

1&1 - Crap service, worse support, bunch of thieves - refused to let me transfer my domains then emptied my bank account after I made a formal complaint to nominet. They claimed this was a clerical error but I don't believe them and neither does my bank or the police. The timing, two days after receiving official notification of my complaint, is very suspicious but as they returned the money on request and without any delay, the police can't prove it was anything else.

Easyspace - Poor service, appalling support (swore at me over the phone FFS!).

GoDaddy - Crap service, crap support, disable domains without warning or reason and claim "T&C violations" after the fact, won't transfer or release disabled domains.

123reg - Reasonable service, so-so support, part of Pipex webhosting so may get sold in the near future.

Simply - Good service, Good support, expensive renewals.

Easily - Good Service, good support, bit more expensive .co.uk = £8.99


My personal recommendation - Easily or 123reg

[Howlingwolf]

Originally Posted by Trevor

And may I recommend Heart Internet:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/index.shtml

These are the guys who owned 123-reg before Pipex bought them out. Domain Registration, Web Hosting all for not a lot of cash and absolutely no rip-offs along the way.

You can register your own web site for around £6 for 2 years (includes Nominet's registration fee) and receive 100 mail boxes, mail forwarding, what have you, without all the hassle of down time. Last time I checked, up time was 100%.

I've just looked at these guys.

The front page of their website has a very big, sticky-out, advert for .co.uk domains at 9p. However, once you look inside you find that there is a registrar fee on top of that, £2.50 for a .co.uk. £2.50 +£0.09 = £2.59, same as 123reg, etc.

Not the most honest of advertising now, is it?


EDIT:

Originally Posted by iansmythe

1&1 - <snip>

You were lucky there.

The subject of card payments came up earlier in connection with F2S overbilling. A friend of mine is taking them to court because they continued to make charges against her card three months after she moved house. When I checked with my bank before migrating it turned out that there is no way of stopping them other than canceling the card. Also, the only way of getting the money back if they refuse to return it voluntarily is the Small Claims Court.

I've already been this route with iomart Internet and it can be a right royal pain in the backside.

BTW: Easyspace is own by iomart internet. Do you think it was the same guy perhaps?

[acidtechno]

I've used www.domaincity.co.uk before who offer a cheap and reliable service and provide you with what you are asking (forwarding services etc included with registration). You might want to check it out.

Originally Posted by Howlingwolf

I've just looked at these guys.

The front page of their website has a very big, sticky-out, advert for .co.uk domains at 9p. However, once you look inside you find that there is a registrar fee on top of that, £2.50 for a .co.uk. £2.50 +£0.09 = £2.59, same as 123reg, etc.

Not the most honest of advertising now, is it?

The style of advertising may or may not be quite kosher, that's not my call to make, but I've had dealings with them for the last four years or more, and I can definitely vouch for their integrity in business.

I did say that the overall cost of registering a domain with them was around £6 for 2 years

Originally Posted by Trevor

You can register your own web site for around £6 for 2 years (includes Nominet's registration fee) and receive 100 mail boxes, mail forwarding, what have you, without all the hassle of down time. Last time I checked, up time was 100%.

[Howlingwolf]

Originally Posted by Trevor

The style of advertising may or may not be quite kosher, that's not my call to make

Perhaps, but a lot of people do judge by the style of advertising and this has sort has been seriously misused in the past.

However, if you've been happy with them for four years or more then they are certainly worth considering. I didn't mention their service because I've never dealt with them.

I've been with Easily for a long time. I've never had any trouble with them and, quite frankly, I can't be bothered with the hassle of transferring my domains just to save £3.00 each. If I had a couple of dozen it might be different

[krysia]

I really appreciate all the help and advice I've had from forum members on this question - it's been invaluable. I've narrowed my choices down to Easily and Domain City, but am leaning to the latter, as I found their website very informative and clear, and the person who replied to my e-mail did so fully and quickly. Now all I have to do is come up with a domain name!

[Justin]

I have a few domains with f2s still myself I will be moving out soon, f2s used to be fantastic for domains before the Pipex takeover, I dealt with Rachel who specialised in this area on many occasions and she always went the extra mile for me, at the moment I have domains with namecheap and godaddy, little to no extras, but I don't need them.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by Justin

I have a few domains with f2s still myself I will be moving out soon, f2s used to be fantastic for domains before the Pipex takeover, I dealt with Rachel who specialised in this area on many occasions and she always went the extra mile for me, at the moment I have domains with namecheap and godaddy, little to no extras, but I don't need them.

Wow! Even a freedom2support founder is moving! Must be serious. Has it really got that bad Justin? After 12 years I'm still reluctant to move except for very good reasons - what are they? I've been away for a while so I'm not up to speed on what's been happening.

Regards

Allen

[Justin]

Just not as helpful and responsive as they were when it comes to domain issues.