Do I need to change my email address?

Most people have an email address which is not tied to an Internet Service Provider (for example, a Gmail or Outlook address). However, some people took up email addresses with their ISP when they signed up to a package with them.

What happens when you are ready to cancel your contract differs, depending on the provider. Some will completely delete the email account while others let you keep it – though they may charge a fee. All email addresses will work over a B4RN connection.

If you have an email address tied to your previous Internet Service Provider, you may find it more cost-effective to move to a free email service from a provider such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo mail before your B4RN connection goes live. 

To set up a new Gmail account:

• Open Gmail and click the 'Create an account' option.
• Follow the steps to set up your new account, including providing your details and setting your Gmail username and password, and any account recovery or privacy settings as required.
• Once you have access to your new Gmail inbox, click on the Cog icon in the top right of the screen to access the settings menu.
• Click 'Accounts and Import' and then 'Import mail and contacts'. Enter your old email address and follow the steps to bring your historic emails and contacts over from your old account.

So that you continue to receive mail sent to your old ISP bound email address until your accounts is closed, it's a good idea to set up email forwarding on your old account, so that email is automatically sent to your new inbox. For BT Mail as an example:

• Click the 'Settings' option in the toolbar and then 'Mail' in the settings menus.
• From the dropdown menu that appears, select the 'Auto Forward' option.
• Tick the checkbox for 'Auto forward' and enter your new email address.
• Click 'Save'.

Once you're all set up with your new email account, it's a good idea to send out an email to all your contacts to make them aware of your change of email address and ask them to use your new address moving forward. You'll also need to update account providers that contact you via email, think banking, online shopping etc. Think of it like a change to your postal address when moving house!