Sending emails to Gmail addresses

[#1]

I wonder if anyone is able to help me please - I am 70 years old so would appreciate any help in plain English with step to step instructions - I do not understand all the abbreviations. I have since March 2023 been having problems sending emails to Gmail addresses, they just bounce back all the time. My email address is a domain name, which I got free when I joined a company called 'Freenetname' which got bought up by a company called 'Madasafish' which eventually got brought by Plusnet! I access my emails through Mac Mail, and not directly via Webmail if that helps.

I have been on to Plusnet Customer Services who were not much help quite frankly and said they can't fix the problem and I would have to find another provider. She seemed so anxious to get rid of me and I had no confidence in thinking she knew what the actual problem was. Can I use the same domain email address with another provider for instance (which Plusnet host), or do I have to forget about my domain name once and for all (I've had it for years and there are so many people and companies who use it)? Is there a work around possibly? I can actually receive emails from Gmail addresses without a problem but can't reply to them.

The transition of changing providers and letting everyone know of a new email address fills me with dread, and I would still need to temporarily monitor my domain address for quite some time until everyone has got the new address. It would be easier if I could keep my email address somehow and find a way to just reply to Gmail addresses another way.

On webmail my address is name@freenetname.co.uk and on Mac Mail it is my domain email address. I'm clueless why they are different!

Hoping you can help an old git sort this mess out.

[#2]

@Emmo 

The Agent is correct. Gmail have changed their security requirements to decrease the amount of spam being sent through their servers. This requires the addition of one or either of a couple of additional features called SPF or DKIM, don't worry about what they mean. The bottom line is that your legacy freenetname account doesn't support either feature.

However, all is not lost. You can transfer your domain to another company, one of the good value, currently recommended ones being Mythic Beasts.

I will leave it to others more familiar with the transfer process to give you more detail regarding the process.

Moderator's Note

This topic has been moved from Tech Help to Email

[#3]

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@Emmo wrote:

On webmail my address is name@freenetname.co.uk and on Mac Mail it is my domain email address. I'm clueless why they are different!

Hoping you can help an old git sort this mess out.

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Your domain name "maps on to" name@freenetname.co.uk so anything SENT to name@domain.co.uk ends up in name@freenetname.co.uk - there are in effect one and the same.

However when it comes to sending, they are considered differently.

Gmail has created no end of issues for their FREE Gmail account users in that, unless the SENDING services have implemented non-mandatory protocols (SPF & DKIM - you do not need to worry about what they are), Gmail will RANDOMLY reject those emails as you have experienced.

SPF has been implemented for sending using name@freenetname.co.uk

For personal domains hosted on @plusnet.com or force9.com there is a means of applying SPF, however for the MAAF portfolio, such does not exist.

You have two choices here...

1. SEND as name@freenetname.co.uk (not ideal)
2. Move your name@domainname.co.uk to a different email hosting provider (tedious and needs a little know how)

To achieve (1) in the email settings change the email address to (or add) name@freenetname.co.uk

[#4]

Hi Townman

Thanks for the reply - I hope your beer festival went ok!

I have no idea unfortunately what you mean when you talk about SPF & DKIM, and it has taken me ages to work out what MAAF means! I did say I was an old git!

Anyway, what I've done is registered with Outlook and got an email address with them and send all my emails to Gmail addresses from there. I use Mac Mail so I can choose quite easily which account to reply with.

Regards

[#5]

The Beer Festival went well thank you. A lot of hard work for a washout on Sunday. Clear down on Monday was just as wet!

I’m little younger than yourself! I did say you did not need to know what the acronyms mean - knowing does not really help you. Either they are available and implemented or they are not. That choice is largely outside of your control. Sorry about MAAF which is common parlance around here.

You might want to consider moving your domain name to Outlook.com whilst you can. They are going to stop the uptake of that option in November. How to do it is readily found on Google.