Setting up Outlook 2019

[#1]

I'm hoping to pick some brains here with setting up my emails with Outlook 2019. I haven't used any version of Outlook for a number of years and am a tad rusty. But first some background;

I have three domains hosted by 123reg, domain1, domain2 and domain 3.

I have email forwarding rules set up with 123reg similar to;

my_email@domain1.uk to my_email@myPNdomain.plus.com

PN_forum@domain1.uk to forum@myPNdomain.plus.com

referral@domain1.uk to referral@myPNdomain.plus.com

plus a couple of other forwarding rules with a catchall; *@domain1.uk to all_else@domain1.plus.com

I have mail boxes set in Plusnet such as;

my_email

forum

refferal

all_else

For domain1 I have set up POP3 accounts in Outlook:

my_email@mydomain1.uk

PN_forum@mydomain1.uk

all with;

mail.plus.net Incoming server 110

relay.plus.net Outgoing server 25

login: myPNdomain+mailbox

I then have numerous rules set up to deliver the emails to various folders such

PN_forum

Gas

Phone

Electric

etc.

While trouble-shooting I have set the flag to keep a copy of all emails on the server.

Most seems to work just fine but some mail boxes don't get anything delivered - not even showing in Webmail.

It's a similar situation with the other two domains but obviously different accounts setup in Outlook and different folders.

Am I over-complicating things? Is there an easier way to do what I want?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[#2]

@Mav ignoring the Outlook 2019 issue for a moment, I see two potential problems with your setup.

1) I'm assuming that you have the domains registered with 123reg on their basic package  which just includes email forwarding m but no mailboxes ?

Unless they implement Sender Rewriting System(SRS) on forwarded emails then there is potential for any forwarded email to be marked as spam. To explain, when forwarded, the email appears to be coming from the original sender but is actually being sent by the 123reg server. This server is not going to be in the SPF authorised list of senders for the originator. SRS avoids this by rewriting the mail headers.

Whilst an SPF ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework ) failure doesn't in itself always cause mail to to discarded , it does increase any spam scoring. This may be why some of your mail arrives but others don't, if the original spam score is highish, then SPF failure may tip it over the limit.

2) From what you seem to have configured in outlook, you are sending mail using your domain address via the PlusNet servers?

Again, this will give an SPF problem, unless your domain has an SPF record which includes the PlusNet relay, which I doubt, any receiving mail server may mark the mail as suspect, and very likely increase any spam score.

Whilst in the past , lack of SPF has not been a major problem, with the increase in spam levels, it is being more & more used in spam scoring.

If you are going to use a domain to send/receive email then you really need to have a hosted email package for that domain. This will allow you to have valid SPF ( & DKIM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DomainKeys_Identified_Mail )  settings for your domain and also provide proper SRS ( I would hope!) on any forwarded email, any thus give less chance of email being lost.

[#3]

I'd completely agree with the last post. Host your emails at an external service, usually for convenience the same supplier as manages the domain registration.

To be honest I'd never consider forwarding emails from my own domain to an ISPs service, and I don't and never have.

I use Outlook, and have for ages as I like it, though I'm on a (much) older version than 2019. And I have significant numbers of hosted domains. All of these are now (though they haven't been in the past) registered through the same company that hosts the emails.

You may have a long-term commitment to using PlusNet but there are so many reasons that may not continue; keep your independence of your ISP then changing broadband supplier (for whatever reason) is less hassle.

As it happens my email service has an option to merely "tag" probable spam (with a text flag added to the subject line) but allow it to be delivered to me. I do that and process it myself in Outlook. Not to everyone's taste, but it suits me.

[#4]

@Mav  take a look at mythic beasts https://www.mythic-beasts.com/order/hosting?product=H-050

For £2/mnth (£20/yr) they will host multiple domains on a single account,  with unlimited mailboxes and forwarding. No need to transfer the domain registration ( but it's easier if you do ) as long as you can change the namservers on your 123reg control panel

[#5]

@MisterW @HPsauce 

Thanks for the advice.

I am looking into Mythic Beasts (they seem to have good reviews on Trust Pilot).

I can change the nameservers as I did transfer to PN a few year ago then back to 123reg. Can the transfer to MB be done with minimul disruption and without further loss of any emails?

[#6]

Can the transfer to MB be done with minimul disruption and without further loss of any emails?

@Mav you're using pop to access your current mailboxes,  yes ?

I've recently done a transfer of some of my mail accounts but using imap. .let me think about transferring pop accounts without loss ...

[#7]

I use a mixture of POP and IMAP though I find myself slowly drifting top IMAP as I need access from more devices to each account.

Some domains/emails are pretty passive and tend to stay as POP and picked up on just one PC. Middling ones are mostly IMAP and for complex reasons my original/main account is still POP, though with secondary IMAP access. Domain first registered back in 1996 I think!

[#8]

One thing to look at with POP is the exact server options your email client offers in relation to retaining/removing items from the server. And what options are configurable at the server end through the hosting admin.

Just because you've downloaded emails to your email client using POP doesn't mean they have gone from the server.

But how you use these options will depend on where you access your emails from and how, if you use multiple devices and especially if some are POP just think it through carefully.

[#9]

I'm having problems with two of my .uk domains not showing in Nominet's control panel (I want to update my address before I transfer) so while waiting for a response I thought I'll add a little extra info here.

Yes, currently all POP3 .

Rather than play with IMAP I set all my devices except the main PC to keep the emails on the server.

P.S. @HPsauce I was typing this as your post appeared.

[#10]

@MisterW I have opened an account with MB ready...

I'm impressed as domain renewals are just over half the price of 123reg and I can renew for 5 or 10 years as well as one or two.

[#11]

@Mav 

I'm having problems with two of my .uk domains not showing in Nominet's control panel (I want to update my address before I transfer) so while waiting for a response I thought I'll add a little extra info here.

There's initially  no need to transfer the domain registration from 123reg, as long as you have the ability on 123reg to set the nameservers, the domains can be hosted by Mythic. I'd get the email transferred and then move the domain registration later.

Rather than play with IMAP I set all my devices except the main PC to keep the emails on the server.

I'm in the process of producing a detailed transfer guide for you and hope to post later today. Keeping emails on the server during the transition period may cause confusion. You may need to ensure that all email has been downloaded by your main PC and deleted from the server before starting the changeover ( my guide will explain a bit more I hope )

[#12 · Accepted solution]

@Mav  so primarily there are  3 steps to perform

1) Open Mythic account, attach domains and create mailboxes.
2) Change domain DNS to direct incoming mail to Mythic
3) Change email client account settings to retrieve and send mail from Mythic

So to expand on the above

1) All of this can be done in advance , It has no effect on existing email.
Assuming domain registration is remaining with 123reg for the time being, then add domains as 'third party domains'. this will automatically update the Mythic nameservers.
Create email addresses, mailboxes and forwarders if required.

2) This consists of changing the domain namservers to the Mythic ones (via the 123reg control panel).
This will give the domain the new MX,SPF & DKIM records and so incoming mail will be directed and handled by the Mythic servers.
Note that nameserver changes can take up to 24-48 hours to propagate across the internet, so during this period some mail may still be using the existing MX record and be received by 123reg.
Normally this could be minimised by changing the MX record (with a short TTL) on the existing nameservers to Mythic first wait for it to become active, then changing the nameservers.
In that way both sets of nameservers have the same MX record and all mail will go to Mythic.
This is almost certainly not possible on the basic 123reg account as there's probably no access to detailed DNS records.

3) In Outlook, change the incoming & outgoing servers and authentication details, for each account, to be the Mythic ones. The account will then be sending & receiving via the Mythic servers.
Since the existing email accounts are POP3, then all downloade or sent email is being stored locally, so it SHOULD be as simple as just changing the server settings on each account.
New emails will then be downloaded from the Mythic servers and any existing emails should still be present. I'm pretty sure this will work with other email clients but I've no experience of Outlook.
I see no reason why outlook should be any different but maybe someone with detailed Outlook knowledge could confirm.
As indicated above, there may be a period during the nameserver propagation where some mail still gets to the 123reg server and forwarded to your PN account. I'd suggest using webmail occasionally to check for any and if you need to retain such mail, then wait for propagation to complete and then forward to the domain again
@HPsauce  do you see any flaws

AIUI You've got 3 domains, is there one that's less used than the others ? Since this procedure can be completed on each domains separately, I'd suggest testing with the least important one just in case there are any issues.

As regards the domain registration transfer, you need to hold that off until the mail is setup with Mythic. if you transfer the registration away from 123reg you will immediately lose the forwarding facility for that domain.
Transferring the registration once the mail is with Mythic should then have no effect.

Hopefully that's useful information both to Mav  and possibly others

@Mav I'm happy to help as much as you need along the journey but it may be better to take more detailed stuff over to PM

[#13]

I want to publicly thank @MisterW for all his help beyond this forum in getting me up and running using IMAP.

Cheers.