Is there an ISP with email services, maybe not webmail, in the US you would recommend for use on an iMac and iPhone?

[SpotOnT]

I was hoping to stay away from the big, big companies if I can.

Yes, in the US too. Not many options it seems.

I hear you. That is why I use Fastmail.

Not free, but I absolutely love them.

*Fastmail is the largest independent email provider. You get unlimited email addresses (aliases). It does not scan your emails or sell you information to databrokers/large corporations. You can use their own Apps or connect to any email client you prefer to use with their service. Not the cheapest option out there, but for the reliability, ease of use, privacy, I really can’t recommend them enough.

** A note on Proton Mail. I absolutely admire Proton for their security features, however, I have had problems with some of the main email providers refusing to receive mail from Proton. Having undelivered emails was a dealbreaker for me.

 

[SpotOnT]

Thank you, I have been feeling overwhelmed since receiving the notice from my current/soon to be former email provider.

There is nothing to be overwhelmed about! Just pick a dedicated email provider - either a free one from one of the big tech companies (Apple iCloud, Outlook, GMail), or an independent paid service with more privacy (Fastmail, Proton, etc).

To start, just use the email on their web-based interface. When you get more comfortable with that, you can start using the email on any email app you like (Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc) on your computers/phone. Nearly all email services will give you step-by-step directions on how to set that up.

Hosting your own email service is a great way to own your email address forever, however, if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, I would shy away from that for the time being.

In the end, this may be a hassle now, but getting away from depending on your ISP to provide your email is a good thing.

 

[SpotOnT]

Would I have to sign into my Apple account every time I want to check for new email?

With what I have now (for the next month anyway) in Apple Mail, I just click on “Get new messages in all accounts”. That’s why I thought I should get a replacement.

Apple iCloud is a fine email service. It is not as feature rich as most of the other services out there, but it does the basics good enough. The main drawback is you will only be able to check it from one of your Apple devices. If you are traveling and need to check your email from a friends device, you are a bit out of luck.

Also, the free version is limited to 5GB of storage, so plan on having to pay to upgrade your iCloud storage tier.

 

[adrianlondon]

I'll add 34sp.com to the list of (UK based) website and domain hosting companies.

I pay around £10/month for what they call their "professional" hosting package. I've been with them for many years; their support is excellent.

 

[Imperial926]

Krystal are ****. Please stay the hell away from them. Had a couple of run ins over the years. Their managed services are a complete mess (basically compromised wordpress farming) and their kit is massively overloaded. Think I logged into a shell and there were 10,000 odd processes on one node running with loadavg over 30 on 8 cores at one point. They're also really expensive.

Mythic Beasts replaced them for us https://www.mythic-beasts.com/

Thanks for the link. I moved to Krystal from TSO Host who were truly dreadful towards the end. I have to say that, so far, Krystal have not dropped the ball for us and our Wordpress sites run much quicker than they ever did with TSO Host. Mythic Beasts certainly have some good reviews so I might try their service with a single domain and see how it goes. Thanks.

 

[Siliconguy]

The main drawback is you will only be able to check it from one of your Apple devices. If you are traveling and need to check your email from a friends device, you are a bit out of luck.

Not necessarily. It's a bit tricky to set up but iCloud mail does work with Thunderbird on Linux. There is also a web accessible version that you can switch on.

I just went through this drill as my ISP is going away too though I have more than a month to complete the change over. In 2019 I had to make the switch in a month and it was a bit hectic.

 

[circatee]

What I find odd, is that Proton doesn't have a Contacts option. Weird.
What do others that use Proton use for Contacts?

To the OP, let us know what you eventually decided to go with. I use Gmail and Outlook Dot Com. I actually just exported everything from Outlook Dot Com to Gmail.

I know, I know...

 

[Fishrrman]

usmaak wrote:
"Is there anything that I need to be aware of with Proton?"

I mentioned this in an earlier post:

The "free version" of proton mail works ONLY with web browsers.

If you want it to work with 3rd-party email apps (such as Apple's "Mail"), you have to sign up for a paid subscription...

 

[BrianBaughn]

Based on what I've seen in this thread I'd recommend Apple's iCloud email to the OP…whom I sense would probably need a lot of help setting up and maintaining anything else. With macOS and iOS it's built-in and only needs a switch thrown in settings if it's not already ON.