I think it is time to get a new Hosted Exchange Server provider

I have been a loyal customer of MailStreet for several years and have had nothing but good things to say about the service.  In all that time I have experienced no technical problems that a quick call to a real technician didn’t fix in just a few minutes.  I have been so satisfied with the service I have written about it on jkOnTheRun and recommended them to many acquaintances.  So why am I considering switching to a new provider?

The recent release of the Palm Treo 700w AKU2 update brings push email at long last, but the main requirement on the Exchange Server side is it must be updated to Service Pack 2.  I don’t have push email nor the ability to synchronize my tasks to the server so that tells me that MailStreet has not upgraded to SP2 yet, at least not the one my setup is running on.  I have three email accounts configured on my Treo, the Exchange Server for my business email and two POP3 accounts that are not business related.  I would love to get my business email pushed to the Treo so I would always know when a client sent me something.  Without push email I must manually go get the email, or set up ActiveSync to automatically poll for email every so often.  Push email would make sure I get notified as soon as I receive a client email, which is what I need.  Even though everything is in place on my end since MailStreet still hasn’t upgraded my server to SP2 I can’t get the two things I need.

I spoke with a MailStreet representative yesterday who told me that they were currently testing SP2 and would be doing so for the next 60 days.  If everything works out with the test they will begin deploying the update and he couldn’t tell me how long that might take.  So I am looking at 2+ months before I can realistically expect the SP2 update I need.  This just isn’t good enough, and I told the rep so.  The Exchange Server update has been out for quite some time now, in fact most hosts have updated weeks or months ago.  So I am now stuck with the major decision of moving my business server to another provider or waiting it out.  The fact that my service has been great makes that decision even harder.  Further clouding the decision process is the information I have received from other MailStreet users that indicates newer servers on their system (meaning new customers) have actually been upgraded already.  I have spoken to two such individuals who are relatively new MailStreet customers whose servers have been upgraded already.  That is very wrong if the new customers get the upgrade first, and especially wrong since that contradicts what the MailStreet representative told me.

I would be very interested to hear from other MailStreet customers about the SP2 upgrade.  If enough people indicate their servers have already been upgraded then my decision may be much easier than it is now.

Comments

[Ben Drawbaugh]

James,
I am an Exchange administrator and I agree this delay is ridiculous. I am sure my Exchange environments are nearly as complex as MailStreets, but SP2 isn't that big of a change to Exchange. I updated our enviroment during production hours without any downtime. I just can't believe that a compnay such as MailStreet doesn't have a clustered enviroment.

The sad part is that I have sp2 but my Treo 650 doesn't support push email.

[Joe Case]

FWIW, I am in the same boat with MailStreet. I have been a customer for a long time and have always been pleased with their service. Until now... My server has certainly not been upgraded to SP2 and the response (or lack thereof) I have gotten from their support team has been terrible. Do you have any other provider in mind?

[John Gibson]

James,

I'm in the same situation as you. I've been very happy w/their service but their timeframe for upgrading to SP2 is unacceptable. What makes it worse is that I've pinged them about it in the past, asking if their servers were upgraded and ready to handle push e-mail and there response was always to say everything was waiting on the wireless carriers. It is very annoying to find out that now that the wireless carrier/device manufacturer has released the update that Mailstreet still isn't ready. With the length of time SP2 has been available for mailstreet to be quoting minimum two months is wholly unacceptable IMO.

[backup]

Whatever you do, don't go to FastHosts!

A couple of months ago I noticed on their website that they now offered 1 GB space with their livemail accounts instead of the 100 MB I have. Since then I have called/e-mailed them several times, but they still have not upgraded me while new users do receive 1 GB!

Besides this lack of respect for their current customers, they also do not offer SP2 exchange hosting...

[David Gordon]

I too am a MailStreet customer, and I have a Treo 700w recently updated to support Direct Push. I really don't understand what the delay is in deploying SP2; it's been available for almost a year.

Has anyone found an alternative provider?

Tech support seems pretty inept about this one. When I called them last week to ask if they had SP2 installed, they claimed that no device existed that would be able to take advantage of it. I emailed them a list of 13 devices that have the AKU2 update available, and they seemed surprised.

Apparently servers MSE8 and MSE9 now have SP2 installed. Why older customers are being penalized, I can't begin to imagine. I emailed them asking if I could be switched to one of these newer servers, and I haven't heard back.

[George]

I have been researching this new SP2 for exchange2003 and seen that allot of people are having issues with it in regards to the active-sync push technology. As is the case with Microsoft products some times it does not work in the first release as promised.

I to use a hosted exchange provider and do not see SP2 implemented nor have I seen mention of it on any of the other hosted providers that I have looked into, I do know from previously hosting my exchange in house that there is allot of things to consider when rolling our service patches and a considerable amount of testing involved when you want to assure your servers stay running. I can only imagine how much more difficult it is for a host provider that must maintain a SLA and have such an abnormal configuration for exchange to accommodate all remote users and in such a segregated environment.

[Will]

I almost "pulled the trigger" an signed up for MailStreet. I need support for my BlackBerry device inaddition to the other hosted benefits. Until I read James's concerns about SP2, I did not know this should be a consideration. I am a "one man band" so cost is a consideration. I look forward with interest to the further discussions and advice.

[David Gordon]

Yay! I emailed MailStreet sales and support with a link to this page, saying that they are going to lose customers over this issue. I just got a response: "Starting next week, we will initiate the deployment of SP2, one forest at a time."

[David Gordon]

Hmm, I'm on MSE4, and still no SP2. I wonder if 'starting next week, we will initiate the deployment of SP2' means 'starting next week, the two-month process of installing SP2 will begin'. Anyone seeing it yet?

[Rich]

I've been a customer for about 2.5 years now. I just did the VX6700 update and asked mailstreet what was going on with Direct Push. Here is their response:

"We are in the process of migrating our servers based on the firmware update provided by all the carriers. Yes, we will soon be able to run the pushpull technology."

A little vague. I'm going to give them a bit and then ping again.

[Austin]

FWIW- I upgraded my XV6700 last night and direct push -IS- working with Mailstreet...

[sean]

you should check 4smartphone. looks like what you guys are all looking for. cheaper than mailstreet too.

http://www.4smartphone.net/ServicePlans.aspx

[Matt]

I have been using 1&1 for several years. They currently support direct push and offer 1GB of server storage for $7/month

[ron]

I would try intermedia.net (http://www.intermedia.net/it-professionals/hosted-exchange/hosted-exchange.asp). They have been running SP2 for quite a while and also offer free ActiveSync - 4smartphone is OK i think, but not really business quality.

[Dan]

I have found the MailStreet has updated all of their servers now and they are now offering 200MB of disk space for the same price as their 100MB offer. They have grown so much in the past couple years and they keep hiring new support tech's....I think they are the best in the industry as far as speed, stability, support and reliability....MailStreet Rules...!!!

[Sam]

As far as business-class email goes, Intermedia's offering seems to be the best bet. We use their hosted exchange service for our twenty-five employees and the service they offer has always been reliable. I would be careful of the cheaper exchange hosts- because you get what you pay for.