Plusnet host my domain website and email - I want to move to new host

[#1]

I own my own domain soroban.co.uk (registrar currently 123reg) however Plusnet have hosted my website and domain email for very many years. I now want to change the email and web hosting away from Plusnet to a new site.

Plusnet has never been the registrar for my domain. I can now directly manage my own domain records (having recently taken direct ownership of my domain, and changed registrar, which was previously managed by a friend) and my domain is currently configured to use Plusnet as the name server.

I have several email boxes which can be accessed either via my own domain or via Plusnet aliases. From memory there is an alias function to my my domain email address to the equivalent Plusnet email address.

Plusnet also currently host my own website with is accessed via my own domain address.

My new site is already configured with new mailboxes to match my Plusnet ones. A copy of  my website is already uploaded to my new site.

What do I need to do, if anything, on the Plusnet site to switch off advertising my domain to the world?

• Do I need to delete the aliasing of my email boxes?
• Do I need to do anything about my website on PlusNet other than to simply delete the data?

How long does this take to apply the change?

I know that DNS changes can take quite a while to propagate. 

I know what I need to do in my DNS entry for my new host to advertise my domain.

I would like to implement this change early next week.

[#2]

The answer to your questions depends on how you plan on 'pointing' the domain at the new email and webhost.

1. Creating MX/A DNS records Plusnet-side to point traffic to your new host

2. Changing the name servers of your domain to point to another host and use their DNS controls to configure the records for your website and email address(es).

If 1, then we would need to know what records require configuring. Any change in this regard is likely to take 24 hours or so to fully propagate.

If 2, then I would suggest you let us know once the name server change is complete and we will remove the domain from your Plusnet account.

What you do with your Plusnet mailboxes/website is up to you. You can leave it be (might be an idea, at least temporarily, until you're confident there have been no problems with the switch), or you can delete the content from the FTP server/delete the mailboxes/aliases. 

[#3]

Thanks for the quick response. I used to be able t raise a "ticket" to resolve such questions but this forum now seems to be the only way of easily getting answers.

I will be changing the DNS records on my domain record to point to my new host replacing the Plusnet host. I know that DNS propagation takes a significant time. Your option 2. I will let you know once this has been completed so you can delete my domain.

I do intend to retain my existing email boxes on the Plusnet host for the time being and create new mail accounts on each of my devices to point to my new server. I am guessing that during the transition some emails may get routed to my PlusNet mailboxes until the DNS records throughout the world get fully updated which I know can take many hours. I was (until I retired) a network architect but have never had to do such a migration in practice! It is different when it is your own email and especially when you don't have access directly to all the servers or even to the team who actually manage the servers!

I was not sure whether my domain aliases to the Plusnet mailboxes would continue to work or whether the Plusnet nameservers would advertise my domain other than via my own DNS entries with 123reg e.g. directly to other Plusnet users. I do know that some Plusnet users do send me emails.

I am simply trying to ensure that emails that are sent during the transition period will go somewhere and not just disappear. I will attempt to clear out my Plusnet mailboxes and  web site.

[#4]

I have now successfully completed my transfer to my new web and email host.

I have tried to access my Plusnet hosted website via FTP to delete the website content. I have not tried to login for a long time and now my ftp access is not accepting my password. I was intending to delete the content but it is not accepting my FTP login. My .htaccess file is preventing me from accessing it without using my domain.

My Plusnet hosted website at sorobansystems.plus.com content can now be removed

My public website is now www.soroban.co.uk on its new host and now supports HTTPS access. All my emails addressed to my domain should reach me via my new host. 

My domain is registered via 123reg and my DNS entries now point to the new host and no to Plusnet. It is possible you may be still advertising my domain from your nameserver. This change was made earlier this week but by now should have propagated through all DNS servers.

From the statistics page it appears that you are collecting domain statistics from accesses to my new host and not the Plusnet host

Is this in fact the case? My non HTTPS site has been on a new host for well over a week. HTTPS access was only added two days ago.

I was using several Plusnet mailboxes with soroban.co.uk equivalents. I have emptied all of them and removed most of them. My remaining Plusnet mailboxes can all be removed as long as they do not break my account. They will no longer be monitored. All my domain emails should continue to work via my new host.

I will repeat with regret that I have found it necessary to move my email and web hosting after being a long time user of Plusnet services. At one time it was easy to raise tickets for problems and get answers to questions but now this forum seems to be the only way to get meaningful answers. 

The relatively recent recent email outage which lasted many days, and especially the difficulty of raising a problem ticket combined with the lack of any clear explanation, was the initial trigger for my doubts to begin to grow. I had to create a Twitter account to report the problem which was never fully explained and that was the first indication that the Plusnet service was no longer what it used to be.

This has been compounded by the comments and rumours around that Plusnet are discontinuing some services. The Mobile telephone has already been announced and I have moved to another supplier that is actually significantly lower cost than Plusnet was even initially charging me. The "discounted" rate of moving to EE was significantly more expensive.

I could see the writing on the wall about email and web hosting and was even told during a telephone call that these services were due to be discontinued but no timescale was given.

Until the past year or so I have been an enthusiastic customer and recommended many people to use your services but I can no longer do that. I am now only using Plusnet for basic Internet connectivity and landline telephony which I can also now get from many alternative suppliers. Your hosted services were the sole reason I have remained a loyal customer for so long but following the email fiasco and the increasing lack of support when it is needs (other than via this route) and moving my hosted services I am now able to consider a move to alternative suppliers.