5 reasons why not to use Telus or Shaw for your email and use Gmail instead

Recently, I had a nice chat with a woman in the store and we started to talk about email. Like a lot of people who use Telus or Shaw (or whomever) for Internet access, she started using the email address they gave her. If memory serves, she started on Telus then switched to Shaw. The problem was that all her friends had her Telus address and now not only did she have a Shaw email address, but she couldn’t access her old Telus address because she wasn’t using Telus any longer. Ouch. Talk about potential for disaster! What if she forgot an important password, but the password reset email was set to go to her Telus address? Where would she be then (hooped is the easy answer there)?

As we continued talking, I found out that she had set up a Gmail address to use while traveling because she had learned the other downside of a Telus or Shaw email address—It can be really hard to send email from that address when you’re not at home. She asked me if she should stop using her Gmail address and I said, not at all. In fact I told her she should switch to use Gmail as her primary email address, and here are the:

5 reasons why not to use your ISP email address and use Gmail instead

• You might change ISPs and then you lose that email address.

Sure, I know that people don’t change their ISP (Internet Service Provider, like Shaw or Telus) often, but unlike your phone number, you can’t just port your telus.net or shaw.ca email address from one company to another. When you switch, you lose that email. Then you not only have to tell all your friends and family you have a new address, but think of all they services (like iTunes) where you have to sign in with an email address (like Facebook). It just got a lot more complicated, didn’t it?

• It’s hard—sometimes impossible—to send email from a Shaw or Telus email address when you’re away from home.

The way most ISPs work is that you can’t send email from a (for example) Shaw.ca email address if you’re not connected to the Shaw network. The reasons for why go back a long, long time (almost 15 years now), but the effect is pretty clear. You set up your Telus.net email address on your iPhone and are at Starbucks or Blenz or Waves having a cuppa-o-joe connected to their WiFi, but you just can’t send any emails! Argh! This sometimes isn’t just frustrating, but can also put a crimp in any work you’re trying to get done too.

• One email address forever.

I’ve had the same gmail address since Gmail started in 2004 and I don’t have to think about ever switching. I use my Gmail address for a lot of services because I know that it isn’t going away—ever.

• Gmail works anywhere and everywhere.

Unlike your ISP email address, you can use a Gmail address everywhere. Google uses a different method than ISPs to ensure only their customers can send email through them. This means I can send and receive email on my laptop, iPhone, or iPad regardless of how I’m connected to the Internet.

• Gmail is easy to set up on all your devices.

iMac, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, even iPod Touch, it doesn’t matter setting up Gmail on your device is a piece of cake. Probably easier than setting up your Shaw or Telus email.

• Bonus tip 1: Gmail looks great on mobile devices.

If you need to get to Gmail in a browser, even on an iPhone or other mobile device, it still looks great and is easy to use. You can’t always say that for your ISPs email.

• Bonus tip 2: You get more with Gmail, you get the rest of Google services too

Gmail is just the beginning. Your Gmail account is really a Google account that connects you with all the services Google offers like Calendar, Tasks, Google Docs, YouTube, Google Chat, and Google+. Essentially you’re getting an entire productivity suite with an email address.

How Simply.ca can help

If you want to make the switch to Gmail from your Telus or Shaw email address we can help you:

• Set up a Gmail account
• Set up Gmail on all your devices
• Import your contacts to Gmail
• Connect iCal to Google Calendar
• Set up forwarding from your Shaw, Telus, or other email account to your new Gmail account so you don’t miss a message!
• Help you tell your friends you have a new Gmail address

How confident are you that you’ll like Gmail? Not only do I use Gmail personally (and have for years), we use Google for our email here at Simply. Yep, we put our money where our mouth is at Simply. We only recommend things that we’d use ourselves.

That’s the best advise. That’s what Simply.ca is here for—you.