Changing ISP

TrevL · August 13, 2018, 09:56:19 AM

I haven't change my phone and broadband supplier for some time, but the monthly subscription is now uncompetitive compered to others. I know you can keep your old phone number when you change, but can you keep your old email address too? TIA.

cjdodd · August 13, 2018, 10:06:48 AM

If you are using your ISP's email address then usually no. Most ISP's will kill your account when you leave.

I have my own domain name registered, I can the give out my own email address (eg ngf@chrisdodd.co.uk) and redirect that to where ever I want, ie a Gmail account, Hotmail account or my ISP's email. If I ever change ISPs I just change the redirection on that address.

Or you can have you email hosted away from your ISP. there are free services like gmail and Hotmail or paid for hosting services like names.co.uk

TrevL · August 13, 2018, 10:15:27 AM

Ah thanks, I was wanting to keep my email addy, but thinking about it, changing it would maybe stop the scamspam.

Delboy · August 13, 2018, 12:01:45 PM

Hi Trev,
I have changed my broadband provider lots of times and always carried on using my same e-mail address. As far as I know, e-mail addresses are not tied to ISP's.
Regards Dennis.

Fardap · August 13, 2018, 12:07:05 PM

Was one of the reasons I got a Gmail address back when you needed an invite! That way not tied in to a specific provider for their email offering.

In the past the offer of email was a good thing as not many people had them, I was an NTL one for a long time, but now with so many options to have your own domain or a non tied email they are not the bargains or essentials they once were.

Mike Hamilton · August 13, 2018, 12:10:40 PM

Quote from: Delboy on August 13, 2018, 12:01:45 PM
Hi Trev,
I have changed my broadband provider lots of times and always carried on using my same e-mail address. As far as I know, e-mail addresses are not tied to ISP's.
Regards Dennis.

They are generally tied to the provider ie. something@bt.com is tied to them, as is something@talktalk.net etc.

The only way round it is to get yourself a domain name, which is then transferable for ISP to ISP.

You could try phoning your IPS and negotiate a new deal. I did this with BT last week. I had their Fibre 2, caller display and anytime phone package. I've got it down from £57.00 per month to £25.00 per month on a twelve month contract with a guarantee that the price will be fixed for that length of time.

TrevL · August 13, 2018, 12:47:18 PM

Thanks for the input Gents. Just been onto them and managed to haggle a tenner a month off, so happy with that. As the juices were flowing, I thought I'd ring the big blue satellite company and have a go there. Got £24 off a month for the cost of a 17 minute phone call.
Not bad for half an hours work

Mike Hamilton · August 13, 2018, 01:32:18 PM

Quote from: TrevL on August 13, 2018, 12:47:18 PM
Thanks for the input Gents. Just been onto them and managed to haggle a tenner a month off, so happy with that. As the juices were flowing, I thought I'd ring the big blue satellite company and have a go there. Got £24 off a month for the cost of a 17 minute phone call.
Not bad for half an hours work

Well done. As Martin Lewis on Money Saving Expert says, it only takes a phone call and a few minutes of your time to get a decent deal.

Delboy · August 13, 2018, 04:28:49 PM

Well done Trev.
you need to pop a post into the Happy Thread.
Dennis.

Wolfie · September 01, 2018, 10:19:15 AM

Quote from: Mike Hamilton on August 13, 2018, 12:10:40 PM
Quote from: Delboy on August 13, 2018, 12:01:45 PM
Hi Trev,
I have changed my broadband provider lots of times and always carried on using my same e-mail address. As far as I know, e-mail addresses are not tied to ISP's.
Regards Dennis.

They are generally tied to the provider ie. something@bt.com is tied to them, as is something@talktalk.net etc.

The only way round it is to get yourself a domain name, which is then transferable for ISP to ISP.

This ^^ But you don't need to tie it to your ISP.

I have my own domain with an email account attached to it hosted by an entirely separate ISP which I simply renew every year. Costs me about a tenner a year. You do have to input the settings to retrieve the email into an email client (eg Outlook or Thunderbird) but thats pretty simple to do.

davidinyork · September 01, 2018, 12:03:14 PM

Quote from: Delboy on August 13, 2018, 12:01:45 PM
Hi Trev,
I have changed my broadband provider lots of times and always carried on using my same e-mail address. As far as I know, e-mail addresses are not tied to ISP's.
Regards Dennis.

Depends on whether or not the address is provided as part of the internet contract - e.g. BT addresses are and you will potentially lose it if you change supplier.

As others have said one option is to register your own address and forward it, but what is actually easier and cheaper is to just use a free provider such as gmail or hotmail - these are not tied to an ISP contract.

Wolfie · September 01, 2018, 05:36:00 PM

Quote from: davidinyork on September 01, 2018, 12:03:14 PM
Quote from: Delboy on August 13, 2018, 12:01:45 PM
Hi Trev,
I have changed my broadband provider lots of times and always carried on using my same e-mail address. As far as I know, e-mail addresses are not tied to ISP's.
Regards Dennis.

As others have said one option is to register your own address and forward it, but what is actually easier and cheaper is to just use a free provider such as gmail or hotmail - these are not tied to an ISP contract.

This is true yes but it has one drawback. Because gmail etc is free you could theoretically make millions of fake addresses and spam forums with them. So quite a few sites won't accept them for registration. I do have a couple of gmail accounts I use with different heads on but my personal email is the ISP hosted one.

davidinyork · September 01, 2018, 05:43:25 PM

Quote from: Wolfie on September 01, 2018, 05:36:00 PM
This is true yes but it has one drawback. Because gmail etc is free you could theoretically make millions of fake addresses and spam forums with them. So quite a few sites won't accept them for registration. I do have a couple of gmail accounts I use with different heads on but my personal email is the ISP hosted one.

In theory, but in practice it's rarely a problem - I use a hotmail address for a lot of things and can't recall having had any issues.

ntpntpntp · September 01, 2018, 09:37:52 PM

I've been on msn and now hotmail since the days of msn dial-up. Works fine for me, no problems with registrations at all. I do also have an ISP provided email but I never use it.

lil chris · September 02, 2018, 12:27:38 AM

I was with Virgin media, the address was the old NTl address, when I left I lost the e-mail. I then joined Sky but after a period of unreliable internet I left and went back to Virgin media. In between I got a G-mail account, I have not bothered using the Virgin Media e mail because Sky let you keep thier e-mail. Most of the important stuff I had started to change to G mail thinking I would lose the Sky address,not so.