(myname@embarmail.com, myname@charter.net, myname@myprovider.com)

You will lose your sacred email address…

1. If you move to a new city (change Internet providers)

2. If your Internet provider closes shop or if they get sold (EarthLink -> Embarq)

3. Frustrated at your provider’s poor service? You’ll either have to change your email address or just live with the provider you have. 

We all grew up with email addresses just handed to us from our Internet provider. It came with it and we didn’t know any better. Things have changed and there are too many options available now that work so much better.

Free alternatives online offer advantageous:

• Simplicity – gmail.com? yahoo.com? (easy to say on the phone)

• Reliability – most large providers have servers all across the country, and world – uptime isn’t a problem

• Easy to use – if you travel, webmail is available. When your home, you can use Outlook.

Google Mail is my favorite, hands down. A free email address, easy to use, and can be configured to work in Outlook. For me, their spam filters work 99% of the time.

The only option that supersedes the above web based options would be to have your own email address (e.g. firstname@yourname.com). This can’t be ripped away from you and you can move it along wherever you go in life, to any provider you like. You don’t have to have a website to use a custom domain name as part of your email address.

You might say, “I can’t change my email address now! Too many people know it.”  Don’t let years go by and you eventually end up without options.  I’d recommend adding a second email, and start using it now.  You can forward your previous address to the new and slowly migrate over the next year to your new.

Or, if you ever have to get a new email address, just think about the above.

Skip the @embarqmail.com address and go get a free one at www.gmail.com.

Tags: E-Mail, Embarq, gMail
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