Keep Plusnet Email Address but wish to use Gmail or Microsoft Exchange to bypass 1GB limit

[#1]

Hi all,

Me & my family have been with Plusnet since 2003 and can't fault the service received.

More recently, we've been getting emails notifying us that our mailbox is full. There's a total of 4 users on the account (one of them being quite techy) and so the 1GB cap doesn't get us very far.

Because we've had our email addresses since 2003, we'd like to keep them as it'd be a pain to change; and ideally make use of a new email server provider so that we can have access to more than 1GB of storage - such as Google or Microsoft Exchange (or any others that can be recommended).

We're planning to keep our Plusnet Fibre package & are happy to pay whatever smalls costs may be incurred with using a new email service provider IF we can keep our email addresses.

My questions is:

    1. Is it possible to keep the email addresses at Plusnet and use a separate service provider so that we can have access to more storage?
    2. Has anyone ever attempted the above and how successful was it? 

Any / all advice welcome.

Many thanks,

Joe

[#2]

Should be easy enough to set up G Mail's SMTP etc settings in your e mail client eg Thunderbird.
But obviously uploads & d/loads to G Mail via PN's server will be included in your PN BB usage, which
if you're on unlimited, won't be an issue. G mail I believe is preferable to M/S Outlook which can be configured to
use M/S Exchange if required using POP3 protocol.
G mail is free but free Outlook.com does plague you with ads.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

I thought I would reply to this incase anyone in the future has this issue.

The solution I've gone with is to POP the email from Plusnet's server and use Gmail to download & delete it from Plusnet. I had to create a new Google Account for each individual email address. For more information on pop, see this link.

PLEASE NOTE: Before attempting this guide, it's worth understanding what will happen to your emails. Because Gmail is going to POP the emails from Plusnet, all of your emails will be transferred over to Gmail and deleted from Plusnet's server. This means that you will access your Plusnet emails via Gmail and not Plusnet's Webmail. Any future emails will simply 'pass-through' Plusnet's server (for want of a better word) onto Google's server for distribution to your devices. 

Steps:

1) Create a new Google / Gmail account.

2) Login to Gmail.

3) Click the cog icon and then 'Settings'.

4) Click 'Accounts and Import' at the top.

5) Under 'Send mail as:' click the link that reads 'Add another email address'

6) Enter your Plusnet email address and press next. In 'SMTP Server' put 'relay.plus.net' and change the port to '25'. Then enter the username and password used to login to your Plusnet webmail. Finally, tick the box that says 'Unsecured connection'.

7) A verification code will be emailed to you. Check your Plusnet mailbox (via Webmail or your chosen application) to retrieve the verification code and enter it into the box. Press next.

The pop-up window will now close as you've successfully setup the ability to send emails from your Plunet email address from Gmail.

9) Under 'Check mail from other accounts:' click the link that reads 'Add a mail account'.

10) Enter your Plusnet email address and press next.

11) Click the radial button that reads: 'Import emails from other account (POP3)'.

12) Enter the username and password used to login to your Plusnet webmail. Into the 'POP Server' text box, enter: 'mail.plus.com'. Leave the port as '110'.

13) Tick other boxes as appropriate (I left them all blank however some may suit your needs) and press next.

14). Done! 

It may take a while to download all the emails from the Plusnet server to Gmail. If your devices (such as phones, PC / Mac, tablets, etc.) have been setup to delete emails as they're deleted from Plusnet's server (IMAP) then they should start to disappear from your devices.

To retrieve the transferred emails you now need to setup your Google / Gmail account on your devices (removing any Plusnet setup currently inplace). You will use the email created when you first setup the Google Account / The one used to login to Gmail Webmail and you should have access to all your emails.