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There are basically three types of email service. POP3 mail, web-based mail and mail redirection.
 

POP3
Most people get a free email service from the ISP (Internet Service Provider) they use for web access. This type of mail is called POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) mail, although strictly speaking that is the protocol for incoming mail. Outgoing mail uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). To send and receive this type of mail you must use special mail software. A simple program is included with both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. There are also a number of excellent third-party email programs: Pegasus and Eudora for example. The software package sends any mail to your ISP's mail server for onward transmission to the destination. Your incoming mail is delivered to your ISP's server. Each time your mail software connects to the server your incoming mail is down-loaded onto your PC.

There can be several reasons for wanting to have somebody else host your mail - you may use the web at work and want to keep personal mail separate. Or like CheapSkate you may use a low-cost ISP who charges extra for email!

Note that when you click on a web page email link your browser will launch your email software. This action will only work with POPmail. It can't be used with a web-based email service. To go to our list of POP3 freemail providers click here.

Web-based mail
A large number of companies are now offering free email services via the web. All mail is sent and received using a web browser. It's easy but a bit slower than POP mail and you usually have to be online while you write your mail (although you can prepare stuff offline then cut and paste it). Your mail is delivered to the mail services own server and viewed from there. It isn't downloaded in the same way as POP mail so you have to stay online while you access it. Not much of a problem if you have network access at work but it could be costly if you are paying premium rates. A major advantage is that you can read your email from any computer with web access. Many of these services can also be set up to access the POP mail on your ISP's mailserver which is useful if you're on holiday or away from base. There is a use for all those cybercafés after all!

It's well worth checking out speed of access at different times of day before you sign up with a service. Net congestion can make some sites unusable for part of the day (and some servers are faster than others). There's nothing worse than logging on to get an urgent email only to find you can't get connected to the site.

Note that web page email links don't work directly with web-based email. The answer is to right-click on the link and copy it, go to your email site (at this point it's useful to know that Control-N opens a new window in Internet Explorer.) Once you are logged on you can paste the address into the appropriate field on the new mail web page. To go to our list of web-based freemail providers click here.

Mail redirection
These services give you a new email address but do not store your mail. All incoming mail is forwarded to your existing email account. There are two reasons why these services are popular. Firstly, from the moment you tell everybody the new address you can change ISP or mail service provider as often as you like. All you do is tell the redirection service what your new email address is. Not a bad idea if you move around a lot or if you want to try a few different ISP's out without having to tell everybody you know. Secondly having a second email address can be useful - you can use it in Usenet postings for instance. If you start getting plagued with spam email it only takes a few minutes to cancel the redirect and hey presto - no more spam. To go to our list of free remailers click here.
 

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