From telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Sun Aug 18 13:24:36 1991 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by gaak.LCS.MIT.EDU via TCP with SMTP id AA06244; Sun, 18 Aug 91 13:24:30 EDT Resent-Message-Id: <9108181724.AA06244@gaak.LCS.MIT.EDU> Received: from relay2.UU.NET by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa13723; 16 Aug 91 15:50 CDT Received: from uunet.UU.NET by relay2.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA29957; Fri, 16 Aug 91 16:46:27 -0400 Received: from relay1.UU.NET by uunet.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-uucp-primary) id AA00781; Fri, 16 Aug 91 16:46:19 -0400 Received: from uunet.uu.net (via LOCALHOST.UU.NET) by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA10721; Fri, 16 Aug 91 16:46:16 -0400 Received: from world.UUCP by uunet.uu.net with UUCP/RMAIL (queueing-rmail) id 164515.532; Fri, 16 Aug 1991 16:45:15 EDT Received: by world.std.com (5.61+++/Spike-2.0) id AA19838; Fri, 16 Aug 91 15:34:02 -0500 Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Path: newcomb From: Donald R Newcomb Subject: Survey of E-mail systems. Message-Id: <1991Aug16.203343.19789@world.std.com> Summary: Choose the one you like best Keywords: Usenet, E-mail, email, networks Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1991 20:33:43 GMT Lines: 243 Apparently-To: uunet!comp-dcom-telecom Resent-Date: Sun, 18 Aug 91 12:27:55 CDT Resent-From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Resent-To: ptownson@gaak.LCS.MIT.EDU Status: RO I have updated my earlier posting comparing various e-mail services for personal use. I want to thank everyone who responded and supplied corrections to my posting. To put some persons' concerns to rest, my only relationship with any vendor of computer services is as a customer. In this study, I based my comparisons on the grades of service which would give the lowest cost for the least use. I have struggled with finding a good format to present my findings. I found that some people did not relate well to the matrix I used in my first posting. Others did not agree with the basis I was using to make my comparison. Sort of like, "Why compare the price of the basic sedan when everyone is going to order A/C and automatic anyway." To alleviate these concerns I have included a brief discussion based on my understanding of each system's features and pricing. My information may be incorrect. Some providers are hard to "pin down" on prices and features. I encourage you to check with providers yourself before purchasing a service. If glaring errors remain in my listing, I would appreciate your corrections. I have tried to provide a phone number or e-mail address to contact each service for information. Three types of charges are detailed: A. Setup: A one time charge to get your account established. B. Annual minimum: What you will be charged even if you don't use the system. C. Hourly access: What it costs (often a range of costs) to occupy a port even if you don't send or receive mail. This is a problem area for my analysis. Some systems bundle access via PSN or 800 number into this figure, some don't. Other charges for e-mail are assumed to be a function of the number of characters or messages sent or received. Charges of this type are indicated by a "$" in the matrix. A problem arises in that "$" does not indicate "how much." So, while both Omnet and ATT Mail indicate a "$" to send to Telemail, for Omnet this is about $.06 while for ATT Mail it is $.40-.85 . The features are: A. Can send mail to various networks & systems: 1. Intermail: Internet, SPAN, UUCP, BITNET and all the systems connected by Internet. 2. Telemail: Sprint Mail, NASA Mail, Omnet etc. 3. MCI Mail 4. Compuserve 5. GEnie: General Electric's E-Mail 6. TELEX: Unrestricted World-wide Telex 6a. Personal Telex #. User has a personal Telex number for receiving Telex vs. common Telex number using a code in the message to route the message. 7. Telegram: World-wide delivery. 8. Paper Mail: Delivery by USPS. 9. Dialcom: Tymnet E-mail 10. FAX: B. X.400 addressing: Utilizes and receives X.400 addressed messages. C. Packet network connections. D. Telnet: Access to and from Internet Telnet. E. Usenet: Has at least a basic Usenet News F. Binary File Transfer. Has a way to transfer binary files. G. File Store: User has at least 360K characters of storage. H. 800#: Access from toll-free 800 number for lower 48 states. I. Receipt: Sender can request an automatic receipt when a message is read. J. Auto-forward: User can set mailbox to automatically forward incoming mail to _any_ possible destination. (The acid test is to forward incoming e-mail to a FAX) The systems compared, so far, are: 1. Omnet (a source of Telemail) 2. MCI Mail 3. ATT Mail 4. ESL (Western Union EasyLink) 5. GEnie (Star*Services) (not same as Quickcom) 6. Pinet (American Institute of Physics) 7. World (Software Tool & Die, world.std.com) 8. Portal (Portal Communications) 9. Netcom (Online Communication Services) 10. Compuserve 11. Fidonet Features-Read Down Costs ($US) |---------------------------------------|------------------ |I|T|M|C|G|T|P|T|P|D|X|F|P|T|U|B|F|8|R|A| S | A | H | |n|e|C|o|E|e|e|e|a|i|.|A|a|e|s|i|i|0|e|u| e | n | o | |t|l|I|m|n|l|r|l|p|a|4|X|c|l|e|n|l|0|c|t| t | n | u | |e|e| |p|i|e|s|e|e|l|0| |k|n|n|a|e|#|e|o| u | u | r | |r|m|M|s|e|x|o|g|r|c|0| |e|e|e|r| | |i| | p | a | | |n|a|a|e| | |n|a| |o| | |t|t|t|y|S| |p|F| | l | | |e|i|i|r| | |a|m|M|m| | | | | | |t| |t|o| | | | |t|l|l|v| | |l| |a| | | |N| | |X|o| | |r| | | | | | | |e| | | | |i| | | |e| | |f|r| | |w| | | | | | | | | | |#| |l| | | |t| | |e|e| | |d| | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Omnet |$ $ $ $ ? $ Y N $ $ Y $ S N N $ $ $ Y N 75 180 4-16@ MCI Mail |$ $ $ $ N $ Y N $ $ Y $ S N N ? $ Y ? N 0 35 0 ATT Mail |$ $ $ $ ? $ Y N $ ? Y $ A N N $ $ Y Y Y 0 30 0 ESL |D $ $ $ ? $ Y $ $ $ Y $ ? N N N $ ? $ N 0 300* ? Genie |N N N N Y N N N N N N N P N N ? ? $ ? N 0 60 0-18@ Pinet |Y Y Y Y ? $ D N $ $ N $ S Y Y Y Y Y N N 15 0 10-19@ World |Y Y Y Y ? D D N D D N D C Y Y Y Y N N Y 0 60 2 Portal |Y Y Y Y ? D D N D D N D S N N Y Y ? N Y 15 168 0 Netcom |Y Y Y Y ? D D N D D N D N Y Y Y ? N N Y 0 180 0 Compuserve|$ $ $ $ ? $ ? N $ ? ? $ M N N Y Y $ ? N 40 30 1-12? Fidonet |Y Y Y Y ? D D N D D N D N N N ? ? N N ? 0? 0? 0? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key: Y=Available feature at no extra cost. N=Not available. $=Available, an extra charge for usage applies. D=Feature available with subscription to DASnet.* S=Sprint (Telenet) Packet Network C=Compuserve Packet Network T=Tymnet Packet Network P=Private Packet Network A=ACUNET Packet Network M=Multiple Packet Networks ?=Unsure *=Minimum sum of usage charges @=Includes domestic PSN charges Note:(*) DASnet is a service that provides systems and individuals with a gateways to a variety of incompatible e-mail systems. Despite frequent mention of DASnet, this is not an endorsement of their service. They can help you get mail to and from many networks, but the addressing is often complex (not realy their fault). Delivery is not always instantaneous. Six hour delivery is not uncommon. Direct DASnet connections are available for electronic mail systems and networks. Legal considerations may restrict the means of connection. A monthly charge of $4.75 plus usage charges apply to DASnet services for individuals. For information contact, (help@11.das.net). More details: Omnet: There are various ways to obtain GTE Telemail (a.k.a. Sprintmail) the one I am most familiar with is Omnet. Omnet is popular with oceanographers and meteorologists and probably costs more then some other Telemail providers. I once could have had a Telemail account for $25.00 setup + $15.00 a year + usage, but that opportunity passed. A few years ago, connections between Telemail and Internet were "iffy" at best; now things are more reliable. Telemail has long been tied closely with Telenet. I don't even know if it is possible to dial directly into a Telemail host. Well developed connections to FAX, Telex etc. (/id=service/o=omnet/admd=telemail/c=usa/@sprint.com) MCI Mail: Provides access to most networks. Private inbound Telex number. High use option (Preferred Pricing) available at $10.00/month for 40 "domestic electronic messages." No charge to access or retrieve mail. Basic communications are charged for message origination or forwarding plus a small annual fee ($35). Normal access via 800 number or Telenet. Seems set to compete with ATT Mail and vice versa. (0002740106@mcimail.com or 800-444-6245) ATT Mail: Provides access to most networks. Private inbound Telex number. Auto-forward supported (even to Telex or FAX). Various extra-cost options, but basic communications are charged for message origination or forwarding plus a small annual fee ($30). No charge to access or retrieve mail. One nice extra is message pick-up via 800 number with synthesized voice ($.50 per minute). Normal access is 800 number or ACUNET packet network. For someone who wants to receive a lot but send very little looks quite attractive. No Usenet. The gotcha is that ATT's $100+ software is required or you get charged an extra $.45+ to create each message online. You must have their software to send or receive binary files. This charge is not on their price list and is only mentioned obliquely in the brochures. It makes me wonder about other hidden charges. In fairness to ATT, I should say that they seem to specialize in linking in-house corporate mail systems to outside networks. In this application the expense of their software would be reasonable.(800-624-5672) ESL: EasyLink was Western Union's attempt at e-mail. It has recently been purchased by ATT but is still separate from ATT Mail. ESL can be best described as "virtual Telex." For companies that send a lot of Telex, ESL may be a good choice. Charges are based on the infamous "Telex minute" (about 400 char) and are lower than most other Telex connections. No "account maintenance" fee but a monthly minimum applies. There are no connections to Internet (except via DASnet). (800-624-5672) GEnie: I'm not sure GEnie should be described as an e-mail system as it does not seem to provide connections to any other system. GEnie Star*Services are economical and have many interesting features but e-mail is strictly local. (800-638-9636) Pinet: Pinet is a service of the American Institute of Physics. It is primarily intended for use by members of affiliated societies (AGU, APS, AAS etc). It is included because I have personal experience as a user. Basicly a Gould UTX/32 host with a restrictive mail shell. Normal access via 800 dial-in. Telenet access has been recently added and may replace the 800 number. Well connected to Telnet but users can't FTP. Access to Telex, paper mail, FAX etc. provided by system connection to DASnet. Abbreviated Usenet. (admin@pinet.aip.org) World: Software Tool & Die, Brookline MA. Sun 4 host. Well connected to Nearnet and SURAnet for Telnet and FTP but not rest of Internet (yet). They pride themselves on having an absurdly large number of news feeds (2500+). User has regular shell with only restriction being a rather "soft" file space quota of about 500 K bytes. Quota can be raised for small charge. Sign up for $20/mo and you get 20 hours with $1/hour above 20. Normal access is via dial-up or Telnet. Compuserve PSN access is available for $6.00 per hour surcharge. (office@world.std.com) Portal: Well known as UUCP & Usenet server. Also provides personal accounts. Access via Telenet $2.50-$15.00 per hour surcharge. Storage charge of $.04/K/month above 100 K bytes. Not well connected for FTP & Telnet. Cupertino, CA. (cs@portal.com) Netcom: This was a big surprise. Online Communications Services seems (if I am reading their brochure correctly) to provide unlimited access to Intermail, Telnet, FTP, archives and more for a flat $15.00 per month. Well connected to Internet. 9600 baud dial-ups. No packet net or 800 number access. San Jose, CA. (bobr@netcom.com) Compuserve: Well known to Joe Public. Provides 1001 services in addition to e-mail. Seems to provide FAX, Telex, Intermail, commercial mail connections etc. Brochures high on gloss; low in facts and prices. (800-457-6245) Fidonet: Fidonet is a world-wide, store-and-forward network for PCs. In theory, it connects BBS users from South Africa to Greenland and on all continents. A hierarchal addressing system organizes the net into geographic zones and nets organized around a local hub. A one-way message may take 2-3 days to arrive at its destination. FidoNet is gated to Internet via the fidonet.org domain. It is possible for a FidoNet node to set up a DASnet link for other services, but this may not be via Internet or UUCP. No set cost schedule. FidoNet nodes in my area are all cost free. No single P.O.C. Node list available via FTP on asuvax.eas.asu.edu in /stjhmc/nodelist.txt . Also via BITFTP on BITNET. Donald Newcomb newcomb@world.std.com (just a customer)