Tech for the Timid

Millions of people use free email services like Hotmail or Gmail. Have you ever considered the downsides of using these types of free email services? This article takes a brief look at Gmail.

Earlier this year I was going to write an article about Google's free email service, Gmail, after some members of an online group I administer had problems. Yesterday a Digg story caught my attention about Gmail. It was about hundreds of users getting their accounts disabled for no apparent reason. These problems aren't limited to Gmail, as I'm aware of other free email services that suffer their users with similar fates.

Not Receiving Email

For the past few years I have had a Gmail account. For most intents and purposes, it works just fine. However, earlier this year I had a high number of Gmail users, which are members of an online board game community that I administer, that did not receive their emails from our site. (Here's a little plug for Carcassonne Central, for fans of the board game Carcassonne).

There were also a number of Hotmail users that did not get their emails as well, but by far the largest number were Gmail users. I checked to make sure we weren't on any known spammer blackhole lists by mistake, which we weren't. Just for good measure, I created an "SPF record" for our site, which is an open standard that helps prevent sender forgery, which is a way of guaranteeing that we are who we say we are. Once this was done, and since we weren't on any blacklists, there should have been no problem at all for anyone to receive our emails. However, Gmail (and Hotmail) users still more often than not, did not. It's not that they received them in their Spam folder; our emails never showed up at all.

This was very frustrating for our users, and for the admin team. The problem wasn't on our end, we did everything we were supposed to do. People who never had a problem with their Gmail accounts were now upset at us, when in reality it was their own free email provider that was filtering our emails out for some unknown reason. A quick search netted an interesting article by Roger Johansson from October 9, 2006, entitled appropriately enough, "Want to receive email? Stop using Gmail." After about 50 comments were posted, Roger closed the comments.

Your Account Has Been Disabled

Not receiving email is just one problem. Another is having your account disabled for no apparent reason. There have been two major instances that I'm aware of. The first was in 2005, and the most recent one a few days ago where hundreds of people had their accounts disabled (see Gmail Help Discussion) I say hundreds only because it is usually a minority who will go to the effort of posting on a help forum. Given the short time ago that this happened, there are probably many more people who haven't checked their email lately but will discover this problem in a week or two. Google explained the problem in the thread with this:

Thanks for everyone's patience and effort in seeing this through to resolution. As some of you now know, this situation has been resolved. Our efforts to prevent breaches of our Terms of Use caused a number of users to be incorrectly identified. I know this had to have been frustrating for those of you that were affected.

Privacy Issues

Most people skip right by software and web site license agreements, privacy policies and usage agreements without first reading the fine print. A site called "Gmail Is Too Creepy" outlines four major issues with using Google as your email provider. Some might call it alarmist but it is certainly food for thought.

Account Hijacking - added 28 Dec 2007

I came across a couple of downloadsquad articles on Gmail account hijacking here and here. Gmail is not the only email application that is vulnerable to this and other types of malicious acts. Any email server or client could potentially be compromised.

Personal Help

When you have a problem with Gmail, there usually isn't a friendly voice at the other end of the telephone to help you. No one will show up the next morning to demonstrate how a particular feature works, or what you might have done with that email that you swore was in your inbox. Outsourcing your business email makes good sense for the support aspect, although Google does have a corporate email service as part of their Google Apps Premier package that offers telephone support.

Your Professional Image

I know a number of individuals who use free email services as their main professional email account. While the cost can't be beat, this article points out some considerations you should be aware of if you choose this route. Most business people I know can ill-afford to have their email account shut down for no apparent reason or fail to receive some emails from what could be an important customer. If your professional image is at stake, consider a hosted email package from a reputable provider. (At PDS, we have inexpensive hosted email plans starting at $50 per year including a web site. Including a real person at the other end of the phone for when things aren't working the way you expect!)

Should You Use Gmail?

Gmail has its place, and I will still continue to maintain my own Gmail account. Gmail has some incredibly powerful features and unbeatable storage space. However, give some considerations to what it is you are using the service for, and hopefully this article will help you decide if it is appropriate for your usage!

Labels: free email, gmail, reviews

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If the promise of wireless networking in the home or small office hasn't lived up to your expectations, and wiring Ethernet cables is costly or difficult, then consider using your existing electrical wiring to run network signals throughout your location.

I've tested and installed a number of wireless technologies (wireless A, G and Linksys-N) in home and business locations, but there are situations where, because of interference or concern over security, wireless is not a desirable choice. D-Link's DHP-301 PowerLine HD network starter kit uses your existing electrical wiring to connect computers, routers and switches, eliminating the need to run or install separate Ethernet wiring.

Although the theoretical maximum data rate is 200Mbps, you'll get lower, but unlike wireless, the connection will be consistent and fast, at regular wired Ethernet speeds. This means for home users, it is great for gaming, streaming music and video, while business users can run VoIP, large file transfers or other high-bandwidth traffic consistently. It also includes a Quality-of-Service (QoS) engine so you can prioritize data packets to improve streaming.

What you get in the kit is 2 identical adapters that are similar in size and shape to an electical wall timer, but instead of a clock it has one standard 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet connector on it, as well as 3 diagnostic LEDs. You also get two 4-foot Cat5 Ethernet cables, which are a bit short for 10/100 cables; six- or eight-footers would have been more useful. The diagnostic LEDs are for power, Ethernet network connectivity, and a useful light that shows if another PowerLine device has been detected.

Out of the box, simply installing the PowerLine devices and connecting your switch with a computer will work. However, you'll want to use the included setup CD to secure your DHP-300s, especially in situations where your location shares power with other offices or residences. Effectively, your breaker panel acts like a firewall, preventing network signals from leaving the premises, but without a guarantee of how a multi-unit location is wired you'll want to secure the connection between the two PowerLine devices.

The install CD was fairly straightforward, although they refer to a "PLC" and "ETH" node but don't specifically say which unit is which. The two units are identical and interchangeable as I discovered by trial and error. The PLC node is the unit that attaches to your switch while the ETH node is the one that attaches to your PC. As the installation and manual warns you, set up your PLC node first, otherwise you won't be able to connect to the ETH node and you'll have to reset the devices. All you need to do is set the Net ID and 3DES Encryption Key the same on both and they'll communicate. Write them down somewhere secure, because if you decide to add more nodes you'll need to assign it with these values. The setup is generally quicker and simpler than setting up a wireless router, and there are far fewer variables to worry about. Presumably, you could also segment your network using different Net IDs but sticking to the IP addressing side for this is probably a better solution. You could also use it to locate a wireless access point to increase your wireless coverage.

D-Link's PowerLine kit comes with 2 units, but as of this writing they do not sell single units. I installed a kit to replace a faltering wireless-N connection and it has worked flawlessly, without the usual concerns that a wireless installation brings. Highly recommended.

Labels: computers, gadgets, hardware, networks, reviews, t4t, technology