Hosted Exchange

[tscholle]

Hi All:

I hate to say it, because I am a Mac fanboy, but tonight I went from MobileMe, which lost all of my contacts to a hosted Exchange system. So far it looks like everything works. Plus I could switch back to my domain name. It makes me sad because I wanted MobileMe to work so bad.

Anyhow, I found the company on www.microsoft.com/exchange, under the partner list. They are called 123Together.com and setup was simple. Just wanted to pass it along.

 

[d21mike]

Hi All:

I hate to say it, because I am a Mac fanboy, but tonight I went from MobileMe, which lost all of my contacts to a hosted Exchange system. So far it looks like everything works. Plus I could switch back to my domain name. It makes me sad because I wanted MobileMe to work so bad.

Anyhow, I found the company on www.microsoft.com/exchange, under the partner list. They are called 123Together.com and setup was simple. Just wanted to pass it along.

Thanks for sharing. I have started to review this option as well. 123Together.com seems a little more expensive then others. Do I understand you get 1GB of storage for 9.99 plus an addition 2.99 for ActiveSync (iPhone Support)? I was just looking at hostway.com which is 9.95 and 2GB and no charge for the ActiveSync. Also, do you know if any of these offer Remote Wipe?

 

[benmrii]

Bear in mind, I believe using Exchange will increase your monthly bill with AT&T (automatic business class data plan). If MobileMe eventually works as planned it sounds like it will be a better option for your needs. Wait it out a bit longer. It won't be perfect but it will be good.

 

[d21mike]

Bear in mind, I believe using Exchange will increase your monthly bill with AT&T (automatic business class data plan). If MobileMe eventually works as planned it sounds like it will be a better option for your needs. Wait it out a bit longer. It won't be perfect but it will be good.

I think many have started using Exchange on a personal data plan ($30 per month) without any problems. Do you have any confirmation about Exchange usage forces you on the $45 data plan. If so, this could be a huge concern. Please provides details.

 

[bugout]

I'm not sure how people come up with this stuff...

Using exchange does not automatically up your data plan.. 😕

 

[wlh99]

Bear in mind, I believe using Exchange will increase your monthly bill with AT&T (automatic business class data plan). If MobileMe eventually works as planned it sounds like it will be a better option for your needs. Wait it out a bit longer. It won't be perfect but it will be good.

Nope. Active Sync to an exchange server is just accessing the internet as far as AT&T is concerned. For a short time I had MobileMe working on my iPhone. The exchange support is much better, and worked perfectly.

 

[naftalim]

I have been looking into this too for a friend as she uses Entourage with a domain from her ISP and needs to keep that domain. I want to set her up with IMAP so she can use MobileMe. She currently has POP with that domain.

2GB does not seem like a lot when you get 6GB with Gmail for free. What happens to your mail when you go over 2GB with one of these Exchange Services?

 

[d21mike]

What happens to your mail when you go over 2GB with one of these Exchange Services?

I think normally you would ARCHIVE you older email on your PC. I have a Annual Archiving System. In my case looking at the last 5 years, my largest year is just under 1GB. I think most would allow you to add more storage for more money if needed.

 

[benmrii]

I'm not sure how people come up with this stuff...

Using exchange does not automatically up your data plan.. 😕

Some initial reports I read stated that the difference in data plans, specifically the business vs. personal, was based simply on whether or not you were using Exchange. If that's not the case I'm glad to hear it.

 

[tscholle]

No extra fee

I just called 611 on my phone and talked to a cutomer service person at AT&T who said there was no extra fee for using Exchange and that ActiveSync was in fact just data. So fear not about extra fees.

 

[gt9228a]

I too switched back to a hosted exchange setup for my domain after mobilme lost my contacts.

I switched to www.exchangemailhosting.com for my exchange. Seems great sofar. Unlimited space for your mail, free sharepoint site, $10/month. Did not have to switch over my MX records for my domain.

Another good one I looked into is Sherweb (sherweb.com), $9/month for 3gb space and free sharepoint. Good reviews as well.

 

[wlh99]

If Leopard supported Exchange then these would be great solutions. I am lucky to admin an exchange server at work, so I don't need to pay for it. But I can't sync my calendar and contacts to my Mac. The iphone does it great, apple just needs to add activesync exchange support to the mac.

 

[tscholle]

Good News RE: Snow Leopard

From: http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

Microsoft Exchange Support

Snow Leopard includes out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 built into Mail, Address Book, and iCal. Mac OS X uses the Exchange Web Services protocol to provide access to Exchange Server 2007. Because Exchange is supported on your Mac and iPhone, you’ll be able to use them anywhere with full access to your email, contacts, and calendar.

Maybe moving to Exchange is for the best. I still feel bad, because I wanted to use ActiveSync for work and MobileMe for home. Now I have no work email...wait is that really bad news 😱)

 

[manuji]

There are many providers which provide decent Hosted Exchange Services. I signed up with apps4rent at http://www.apps4rent.com. They are good and provide pretty good service. I signed up about 5 months ago for most basic plan of $6.95 with 1 GB space. the service is quite good and when I have issues they repond fast.

 

[Sonicjay]

...Another good one I looked into is Sherweb (sherweb.com), $9/month for 3gb space and free sharepoint. Good reviews as well.

Sherweb was terrible; constantly flaky, push randomly not working, very frustrating. I'm using ExchangeMyMail.com now and am much happier.

Also, as stated above, you do NOT have to pay the business plan for Exchange; that's a Blackberry thing (BES Server/Active Sync puts you into the business plan).

 

[techiegirl]

Webville was excellent when I was using exchange (webville.net). Now I'm using Kerio, but am disappointed they are not compatible with Snow Leopard.

 

[Fry-man22]

Bear in mind, I believe using Exchange will increase your monthly bill with AT&T (automatic business class data plan). If MobileMe eventually works as planned it sounds like it will be a better option for your needs. Wait it out a bit longer. It won't be perfect but it will be good.

I've been syncing iPhone to Exchange since the beta of 2.0 - there are NO fees associated with syncing to the server - data is data. You only pay the extra if they actually host the Exchange account... (or if you use a Blackberry).