Switching Internet Providers? Take care of your email address BEFORE the switch!

Last month I got a panicked call from a client who had switched from Verizon to Comcast and now her Verizon email no longer worked.  The Comcast rep had offered to cancel her Verizon account for her, and she didn't understand that her email account would cease to exist as soon as her account was cancelled.  We spent over an hour on the phone with Verizon in a fruitless attempt to get her email reactivated, finally giving up and creating a new Outlook.com account for her and sending a change of address notification to all her contacts, effective IMMEDIATELY.

There are many good reasons to switch internet providers - better service, lower cost, moving out of the provider's service area - and usually the only real tie that binds you to the provider is your email address.  Different companies transitions your email address in different ways, and you should know their policy, and act on it, before it's too late.  Some companies will allow you to keep your email address if you switch, others won't, so here's the breakdown for your reference.

AT&T/SBC

If you have an AT&T email address associated with Yahoo your email will switch to a free Yahoo account when you cancel service.  If you are getting your mail in Outlook you need to sign up for Yahoo Mail Plus for $19.99 a year to access POP servers.

Comcast

If you cancel your internet but keep your TV or phone account you can keep your Comcast email address. If you have no Comcast services at all your email address will be discontinued.

RCN

You can purchase an "email only" account for $3.95 a month per email address, call 1-800-746-4726 to order it prior to disconnecting service.

Verizon

You can keep your email for a fee of $19.95 per year - IF you sign up for Verizon Your Domain Basic prior to cancelling service.

Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, Hotmail, Outlook.com, Me.com, etc

These email addresses are not tied to your Internet Service Provider, and will not be affected by an ISP switch. 

Regardless of who provides your internet, it's always best to have more than one email address. Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook.com and AOL all offer free web based email accounts that can be accessed from computers, cell phones, and tablets. If you are thinking you might switch ISP's you might consider switching your "main" email to one of these several months in advance.  Here are some highlights of the various options, and I can assist you with the transition if you need some help.

Julie Marto, the ComputerMom, has been providing friendly and personal technical support and training in Medfield and neighboring communities for over 16 years. For more information visit http://www.thecomputermom.com/ or like her on Facebook 

To read more blog posts from the ComputerMom click here.