Email Hosting Service

[pitch4us]

Hello all,

Apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge on this subject; have tried searching but not confident in evaluating results to make a sensible decision so any advice greatly appreciated.

The company hosting the email addresses for my small business here in Thailand has been "down" for around 36 hours now (apparently due to loading new OS onto their server ( - so why no back up server to maintain services in the meantime???)) and the inability to send/receive emails to/from customers is damaging our business. We are repeatedly told (via their live text chat support) that all will be back to normal in "a few hours" but confidence and optimism are quite low at my end and I am now looking for an alternative.

We have a domain name registered but no associated website so no need for anything on that side of things. We have around 10 email adresses linked to that domain and will need to be able to add/remove email accounts from time to time. I really have no idea of how much storage capacity we need or what is "normal" for what I would say was medium usage. We need to be able to access email accounts remotely (webmail) and my present situation means I am looking for a hosting comapny that is both reliable and who can provide 24x7 support.

As most emails are to/from within Thailand, is it better to use a company based here or does it not really make a difference? My feeling is that what you may gain in convenience in being based locally, you may lose in the quality of customer support (apologies for this negative view).

Also, how quickly can I expect a new company to take over the hosting from the existing company and have everything up and running? Would the new company still have to wait for the old company to get their server back online before anything could be achieved?

If anyone could offer any advice or recommend a company that could provide the service I require at a competitive price, I would be most grateful.

Thanks in advance.

[monty]

You could use gmail. Works with your own domain...

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

[singa-traz]

Use Gmail. It will be free, and can still have your own domain name.

http://www.google.com/apps/

[lor]

I use 1&1. It is based in the UK but have used them for years and never had any problems.

Chris

[MarleyMarl]

If gmail is not a suitable replacement for you, you do not need to use a server provider in Thailand.

Using an email hosting service in America would be no problem, and with the right company you will get much better support and uptime compared to a local service here in Thailand.

[raro]

Send a PM to Phil Connors, he is into this business

[pitch4us]

Thanks to everyone for the useful advice posted and PM'd to me - much appreciated!

It seems like my business wasn't the only one being let down at this present time by this particular company. The service has returned in the past hour but was down for over 60 hours, which I think is unacceptable in this day and age (no wonder they were cheap!).

Anyway, I have read taken advice onboard and also done my own further research and will indeed be switching to a new hosting company this week (I think they are US based but realise now that actual location makes very little difference).

Cheers!