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Exchange email for iPhone
- Thread starter manchoi44
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I know, funny isn't it?! However, that's the world we now live in...So I guess the IMAP support is "only" every 15 minutes or so? I just love that we've now gone from "what's email?" 15 years ago to 15 minutes being an infinitely long time to wait for an email message to show up in your pocket
Leopard Server is SO bad at working with the iPhone - it's not just about Push mail. At the moment, you can't even sync events created on the iPhone back into a server hosted calendar. It can only go into a local calendar. That should have been in iPhone OS 1. I'm guessing there are maybe three people in Apple that work on Server.
Sorry to drag it off topic.
I think it seems like a lot of money, but I'm really looking as it as an investment. My gut feeling was, as much as I like being in total control of things, putting my Exchange in the hands of experts gives me more peace of mind, especially when dealing with something as vital to my business as email, contacts, and calendars. As for going through a 3rd party.. while it can be a hassle right now, I am banking on being able to use my Exchange hassle-free, while Hostway's server people hassle themselves to keep their servers up and running.
My biggest reason for choosing Exchange over an IMAP solution like Gmail was that it offers features like shared calendars, Global Address Lists and email aliases that make more business sense to me than other solutions.
Is it really? I just started receiving my emails (testing) and I never signed up for the corporate data plan....
Am I going to get charged incognito?
That's what I've been told by AT&T. I'm a corporate responsibility user and I needed to specify that I "wasnt using corporate Exchange email" with over 10 reps to get the $30/mo plan. If you use Exchange, I think they will begin billing you for that plan.
I don't know, IMO running a mail server, etc. isn't that big of a hassle, and I don't trust outsourcing to 3rd parties to do it right...especially these smallish companies. They seem like a rip off to me compared to an IT department (or guy, or...uh...you) doing it.
Regarding the Exchange thing, how would they know, unless they're like filtering your internet connection or something and looking for it? I'd just assume that if it's for my personal use, I can do whatever I want with it, while if it was for business use I'd have to pay for the more expensive plan (even though it's the same thing). I mean you could just browse to your Exchange server's web interface, or do it through IMAP, which amounts to the same thing (unless Exchange is super inefficient with it's own protocol...which might be the case).
Regarding the Exchange thing, how would they know, unless they're like filtering your internet connection or something and looking for it? I'd just assume that if it's for my personal use, I can do whatever I want with it, while if it was for business use I'd have to pay for the more expensive plan (even though it's the same thing). I mean you could just browse to your Exchange server's web interface, or do it through IMAP, which amounts to the same thing (unless Exchange is super inefficient with it's own protocol...which might be the case).
Not sure if this is on topic, but if I have an MSN account (through Qwest), can it still push the email through to the iPhone without MobileMe? I asked this question to the Apple rep when I "tried" to get an iPhone and he said it would work, but I'm not sure he knew what I was asking.
Hmm...does that just use Hotmail? I *think* you can pay for pop support for Hotmail, but that's not remotely worth it IMO. I don't think it supports IMAP at all (and personally POP's never seemed useful to me since it ties you to a single computer...or rather a single device, the iPhone in this case). I'd just switch to some service that offers free IMAP support, or go through the web interface.
No, it cannont push email, and MobileMe can only push me.com/mac.com email.
You do not need a corporate account to use Exchange on the iPhone.
I used to host my own Exchange Server - I have the software for free (legally).
It's a whole bundle of hassle keeping a server running 24x7 with no downtime. I gladly pay someone else US$120 a year to do it for me - better things to spend my time on.
It's a whole bundle of hassle keeping a server running 24x7 with no downtime. I gladly pay someone else US$120 a year to do it for me - better things to spend my time on.
Exchange servers are a hassle to maintain (doing so currently) but the hassle increases when running a Blackberry service as well. There is always something new each day.
Considering the state of MobileMe, why would anyone recommend it to someone? I mean .Mac wasn't exactly reliable either.
I'd go with one of the previous suggest hosted exchange services. $120 isn't a lot for a peice of mind and reliable service.
I'd go with one of the previous suggest hosted exchange services. $120 isn't a lot for a peice of mind and reliable service.
I guess I could just do the web interface. Since it's just personal email, I don't really NEED push, but it's nice to have on the BlackBerry. I just HATE the trackball on the Curve and love everything about the iPhone.
Seriously, I have my business email (Gmail on my domain) forward a copy to my @me email address, which my iPhone picks up. Then I just change the outgoing server to my Gmail server, and it's in perfect working order. I even checked the mail headers in a HTML editor and there wasnt a single mention of MobileMe in the email I sent from that inbox.
I'd test drive MobileMe before buying into Exchange. I'm on a business plan and I don't pay the $45/mo plan, so if ANYONE can use Exchange, why even have the 2nd tier option?
I'd test drive MobileMe before buying into Exchange. I'm on a business plan and I don't pay the $45/mo plan, so if ANYONE can use Exchange, why even have the 2nd tier option?
While that is a perfect solution to simply have the mail pushed to your iPhone as soon as it arrives, frustration would soon set in for me. You can't keep your mailbox organised on the iPhone, and anything you delete there has to be deleted again later in the original mailbox.
Not true. I run exchange at home on the $30 plan just fine and so do a few friends who have accounts. Corporate users on corporate plans get charged $45, that's it.
and that is exactly why I'm just staying with fetch right now for gmail. I did forward to mobileme but I don't like having to go back to my actual account and not have any changes reflected. I wish gmail had push.
I have a MSN account (not the FREE Hotmail - which might also work).
Install Windows Live Hotmail (Free)
http://get.live.com/mail/overview
After login, upper right had corner is Options / More Options and select forward mail and you can have a copy (or move) your mail to userid@me.com. Then me.com will push the mail to your phone.
First review post:
So it's been about a week since I started this thread and decided to try using hostway's exhange hosting...
Service has been great, but setup was definitely more complicated than using MobileMe.
Some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Customer service
When I called hostway, the sales rep (a really sweet girl named Jamie) answered all questions I had (most of which were pulled directly from this thread). She seemed really knowledgeable about Exchange, but couldn't say if AT&T charges the "corporate data plan" for using Exchange email. After doing some more research myself, I think the corporate data is only for people who are using VPN...
- Price
All of my employees are now on Exchange, and they all got a copy of Outlook 2007 for free... We're still figuring out how to use the calendar sharing/meeting room scheduling features... but it looks and works great for what we need so far. Not to mention, this first month is free (which is the main reason I signed up with Hostway in the first place).
- Reliability
As soon as we got setup, there was a bit of a delay (something to do with MX server "propagation"? But ever since that has been finished, service has been superb. It's only been a week, but no outages yet (I'm looking at YOU MobileMe!). It costs about $50 more per year per account than MobileMe, but I can honestly say that it would be well worth it as long as we don't have any outages.
- User interface
The control panel for their Exchange service is very easy to use. albeit a bit "ugly". I can add/remove users and create aliases (which is also very cool and useful). still clicking around.
Cons:
- Setup
as I've mentioned before, the setup was more intensive than MobileMe's (I know b/c I use mobileme for my personal email/computer stuff). Whereas MobileMe seems to set everything up for the user, Exchange hosting definitely requires some more input from the customer. e.g. - I had to create copies of emails (or a .pst backup), install Outlook 2007, and then restore all the old emails, contacts, and calendars... and that goes for all of my employees too. I would be willing to pay for a service like this in the future. I realize it's not too difficult of a task, so luckily, none of us made any mistakes during the "migration" process and we didn't lose any of our emails.
Also, I'm fairly unfamiliar with the whole changing MX records side of email service, and was unhappy to hear that Hostway was not able to do this for me. In my particular case, I had to call GoDaddy's technical support and ask how to go about changing the MX records of my domain. I also had to add an "A record" for autodiscover (?)
Once that was all done, it was just a waiting game until all of the changes went through. I setup Exchange in Outlook (which was actually easier than adding a POP email service) and I've been a happy Exchange user (both desktop and on my iPhone) so far.
any comments/questions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone else is using an Exchange host, did my setup/migration experience seem pretty "standard"? If it is, I could see myself staying with Hostway for a while... if there are easier alternatives, I may consider switching if I become dissatisfied later on.
Thanks
So it's been about a week since I started this thread and decided to try using hostway's exhange hosting...
Service has been great, but setup was definitely more complicated than using MobileMe.
Some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Customer service
When I called hostway, the sales rep (a really sweet girl named Jamie) answered all questions I had (most of which were pulled directly from this thread). She seemed really knowledgeable about Exchange, but couldn't say if AT&T charges the "corporate data plan" for using Exchange email. After doing some more research myself, I think the corporate data is only for people who are using VPN...
- Price
All of my employees are now on Exchange, and they all got a copy of Outlook 2007 for free... We're still figuring out how to use the calendar sharing/meeting room scheduling features... but it looks and works great for what we need so far. Not to mention, this first month is free (which is the main reason I signed up with Hostway in the first place).
- Reliability
As soon as we got setup, there was a bit of a delay (something to do with MX server "propagation"? But ever since that has been finished, service has been superb. It's only been a week, but no outages yet (I'm looking at YOU MobileMe!). It costs about $50 more per year per account than MobileMe, but I can honestly say that it would be well worth it as long as we don't have any outages.
- User interface
The control panel for their Exchange service is very easy to use. albeit a bit "ugly". I can add/remove users and create aliases (which is also very cool and useful). still clicking around.
Cons:
- Setup
as I've mentioned before, the setup was more intensive than MobileMe's (I know b/c I use mobileme for my personal email/computer stuff). Whereas MobileMe seems to set everything up for the user, Exchange hosting definitely requires some more input from the customer. e.g. - I had to create copies of emails (or a .pst backup), install Outlook 2007, and then restore all the old emails, contacts, and calendars... and that goes for all of my employees too. I would be willing to pay for a service like this in the future. I realize it's not too difficult of a task, so luckily, none of us made any mistakes during the "migration" process and we didn't lose any of our emails.
Also, I'm fairly unfamiliar with the whole changing MX records side of email service, and was unhappy to hear that Hostway was not able to do this for me. In my particular case, I had to call GoDaddy's technical support and ask how to go about changing the MX records of my domain. I also had to add an "A record" for autodiscover (?)
Once that was all done, it was just a waiting game until all of the changes went through. I setup Exchange in Outlook (which was actually easier than adding a POP email service) and I've been a happy Exchange user (both desktop and on my iPhone) so far.
any comments/questions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone else is using an Exchange host, did my setup/migration experience seem pretty "standard"? If it is, I could see myself staying with Hostway for a while... if there are easier alternatives, I may consider switching if I become dissatisfied later on.
Thanks
Yup, standard setup. A record, MX record, all of these things are necessary for people on the internet to find the server hosting e-mail for "yourcompany.com" or whatever you domain is. You wouldn't have had this using mobileme, but yes, it requires more work. A small price to pay to appear as a legit business instead of using hotmail.com gmail.com or me.com if you ask me.
Exchange Alternatives
I thought I would chime in here. I'm an IT consultant and alot of my customers are non-profit organizations that need the biggest bang for their buck. They also want services like exchange provides, but they don't want to fork out the $$ for it.
So as we looked around, we came across Kerio Mail Server. It is a great product and in comparison to exchange, I think it works just as good and it is easier to maintain. There are also several companies providing Kerio as a hosted service I think it is worth looking into.
I thought I would chime in here. I'm an IT consultant and alot of my customers are non-profit organizations that need the biggest bang for their buck. They also want services like exchange provides, but they don't want to fork out the $$ for it.
So as we looked around, we came across Kerio Mail Server. It is a great product and in comparison to exchange, I think it works just as good and it is easier to maintain. There are also several companies providing Kerio as a hosted service I think it is worth looking into.
I just bought an iPhone 3G
The main reason I bought it was b/c of the Exchange sync functionality it has and now I'm looking for a cheap way to get Exchange for use with my email address...
Looking for suggestions from anyone who is using a hosted Exchange solution please
mail2web.com - they offer the free live.mail2web.com service which works perfectly. They also have somewhat moderately priced hosted exchange solutions. I don't work for the, btw.
I've used Hostway as my webhost for about 6 or 7 years now; last week, I tried to switch my email from their POP service to hosted Exchange. They completely FUBAR'd it, leaving me without email for 5 days, at which point, they still were not able to fix it, and didn't seem to care. This was extremely disappointing, as their service was always excellent in the past, but after 5 days and 8 phone calls still with no email, they lost a customer. I switched to SherWeb's web hosting and hosted Exchange, and it's working awesome (They did actually goof one of my MX records, and I had to call them and tell them how to fix it, but no biggie; it was still handled quickly). Their hosted Exchange is >$9 per mailbox per month.
http://www.sherweb.com/hosted-exchange
http://www.sherweb.com/hosted-exchange