UKH

My dad has a Plusnet email address he said that he’s been told that it will no longer work from the end of the year and they have recommended switching to Gmail, or another provider, before then. 

Obviously moving contacts across is easy, but does anyone know the implications of it closing?

For example, everything he has ever signed up to online is using that email address. I guess login details will still work, but will any future correspondence be lost? 

Is there a way to auto-redirect emails from a email that won’t exist any more? Or will he have to go to all of the sites and businesses that he uses and change his details?

Any thoughts would be welcomed as I’m clueless on it…

I've had a globalnet email address for decades. It was transferred to Madasafish and then Plusnet over the years and I've not heard anything about this. Total pain if it's closing as I also use it for everything.

I've just been looking through Plusnet forums and can't find any reference to email closure except a query from last July (which obviously didn't happen). My ex gets a package of mobile/landline, TV and broadband from Plusnet and she's been told that Plusnet are stopping the mobile part of the deal. Something seems to be afoot with Plusnet?

He said he’d read about it on some forums, and had unofficial confirmation after calling them this week and the service agent saying that it would be closing (they said by the end of this year).

Reading on their forums it sounds like customer services are consistently telling people it will be closing (e.g. https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Plusnet-Force9-Email-Service-NOT-ending... ) but that further calls/queries say no decision has actually been made… and that there may be confusion between which servers may close.

So on reflection, it may not happen (he uses the @surname.plus.com email), but I’d still be interested to know what options could be for him to try and sort it out if it does end.

He'll need to get a new email address and then login to every online provider that he has and change the email address with them.

It'll be an utter pain in the rear.

When the email stops working, all future emails will be lost.

No you cannot do a redirect if they've turned off the service.

Thank you! He’s got a gmail now but I’ll advise him to start changing things, just in case…

I'm not sure that's correct. Plusnet are definitely getting rid of their mobile phone business and are referring everyone to EE - my wife and I have just gone through this task relatively painlessly. 

Plusnet are still offering broadband - we renewed last month, on a better deal than previously. I shall be unimpressed if they are cancelling their broadband services as well as their mobile services.

Sorry, I edited my message probably after you saw it. It is the mobile bit they are ditching.

I’m with Plusnet and not heard of this. I had to move my mobile though.

As long as Plusnet do broadband I don’t see why they would cease it as they send all their email broadband correspondence to their own Plusnet addresses provided for you.

However, if they are closing the email system, from my past experience of other companies, unless they allow legacy use of the email system as some other providers did/do at a cost*, then once closed that’s it. Redirect won’t normally be possible as it will require Plusnet servers to do so. They could do something of course as they are part of BT so technically it is easy for them if they wanted.

If email is closing and no ongoing use is permitted - The best that can be done afaik is copy all, everything, from their servers, transfer data to a new provider of your choice and then take steps to notify all the contacts you want/need to keep of a new email address. Then, change all websites with the Plusnet address as user name/email contact to your new provider. The login might continue to work if Plusnet address is a user name, but you won’t be able to re set passwords etc or receive any email security stuff and such likes as you won’t actually get any email directed to a Plusnet address if it doesn’t exist.

It is possible Plusnet will disappear at some point so even if the email is not closing soon, it is worth considering changing email contacts over a period of time; at your leisure so to speak rather than forced/rushed. I’m actually doing that meantime for other reasons.

BT are known to be reorganising, hence closing down Plusnet mobile, and so who knows what else they may or will close. Plusnet is of course their cheaper offering and they may decide it’s not worthwhile having it in future.

* A while ago I was losing email with a broadband company and they offered continued access for a charge. I declined and took the hit of hassle as I could see it could just be temporary and only of use for as long as they decided to manage the system.

My mum (81) has a mobile deal with Plusnet and a few weeks back they informed her they’d be closing her account early in the new year. She spoke to them and ( as a previous poster mentioned) was advised to open an EE account. She’s done this and it has turned out cheaper (£6.00 a month, unlimited calls and texts) than she was paying with Plusnet. 

Thanks for all of the replies. I knew about the mobile business closing, but the email part just seems confusing.

From what I’ve read, and what my dad was told by Plusnet on the phone, if you call and ask you’ll be told that the email will cease to end soon. And they will actively help you to transfer all of your contacts etc to a new provider.

But officially, it has been denied and there are no official communications to suggest it is true. Who knows what’s happening…

Yeah this link seems to indicate that it's something they want to do, yet haven't actually managed to pull the plug on the email server.  However, I'd still suggest that it's probably a good idea to move, as it's probably an old and un-supported server, which they do want to get rid of.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Plusnet-Force9-Email-Service-NOT-ending...

However the recommendation at the bottom of the email is a good one, buy a domain name and then pay for a service from someone like Mythic Beasts (I use them for domains, they're very good) for email.

Or someone like Migadu - https://www.migadu.com/ - who I use for email.