Question about switching an email box to a regular account

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
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by aw » Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:31 am
Hello,
I'm a long-time user and former employee of Sonic.net who's had the same account name of "aw" since the mid-90s. When I got a work-from-home job, I had to switch to Comcast as Sonic couldn't provide a fast enough connection at my location for me WFH needs. However, I have been checking at least once a year to see if Fiber would be available. When I switched, I converted my "aw" account to an email-only box on my parents' account as they still had internet through Sonic.

I called yesterday, and it was! (albeit re-sold ATT fiber) The problem is that I was told I'd need to create a new account with a new name in order to order service. I'd really like to keep everything under the aw account if that's at all possible. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to how I could achieve this?

Also, I'm pretty unfamiliar with ATT's resold fiber - What I remembered of the re-sold FTTN service was that the modem had some sort of VPN back to sonic so all of your traffic would come out on Sonic IP space, but the sales person told me that that isn't the case with the re-sold FTTP fiber, that it would be entirely on ATT's network, is that correct? I'd basically just have Sonic for support and email?

My understanding of fiber is that I'd get a gigabit symmetrical connection no matter what, as long as my equipment can handle that kind of throughput?

And speaking of equipment, I prefer to run my own router and have a completely un-natted/un-filtered connection hit the WAN side of the router, is this possible with the re-sold ATT (true-bridge mode?) The sales person didn't sound entirely sure on that point.

Hoping this can work out and I can come back to Sonic!


Thanks,
-Alan
by virtualmike » Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:03 pm
I won't go into too many details on the connections because people with more experience with them will likely chime in with much better information than I can provide. :roll:

Regarding keeping your "aw" username... likely the fact it's a mailbox on your parents' account means that it would need to be removed from that account before it can be applied to a new account, and there may be a requirement for some amount of buffer time. You probably don't want to risk missing any email during that time. So... I'd suggest opening your new account with a secondary name that you will use only for managing the account. Once you have everything established and working to your satisfaction, then:

1. Ensure that there are no emails in the mailbox that you want to keep
2. Delete the mailbox on your parent's account
3. Create the mailbox on your account

This way, you will have reclaimed your preferred mailbox and applied to your own account, and you can manage the account with a separate user ID. I'm operating similarly--my master login for Member Tools is only used for that, and the mailbox is used only for communications with Sonic. I use other mailboxes/email addresses for all my correspondence with the rest of the world, and no one is wiser. AAMOF, should someone try to hack into my account or phish me with one of my public mailbox, they won't get far, since that mailbox can't control the account.

If you do step 3 immediately after step 2, the amount of downtime for the box should be minimal. You could consider doing it at a time when little email is expected... perhaps 3 am in the morning.

It probably would help if you reached out to one of your former colleagues to ensure that there isn't a "grace period" after deleting a mailbox which would block the name from being applied to a new mailbox on another account. If so, you could inquire if there's a way that can be manually done on the backend to expedite the transfer.

As far as the connectivity questions, my short response is:

The router is supplied by AT&T and has no VPN capabilities in it. You likely can use it as a bridge with your own router to provide any additional services within the home, including a whole-house VPN if your equipment that will support that. Otherwise, you're on AT&T's network for all your activity (unless you use VPN on the devices). However, it is uncapped and Sonic's agreement with AT&T is that the traffic isn't logged ;) ;) The speed of the service will depend on what AT&T and Sonic offer in your area... check the specs to be sure. You'll also get an ATA (analog telephone adapter) so you can plug in a phone for a VOIP landline. Yes, Sonic will provide your support, email account(s), VPN, faxline, and other services.
by joemuller » Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:12 am
aw wrote: I called yesterday, and it was! (albeit re-sold ATT fiber) The problem is that I was told I'd need to create a new account with a new name in order to order service. I'd really like to keep everything under the aw account if that's at all possible. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to how I could achieve this?
I see you have a new account now, so I recommend reaching out to our Support or Billing teams to request the 'aw' mailbox be moved over to your new account. Once your new service is set up, they can also swap things around so you can make 'aw' your main account.

-- Joe M
System Operations
Sonic.
I'm a proud employee of Sonic.net! :-)
by aw » Tue Aug 16, 2022 2:39 pm
Wow, FANTASTIC Joe, Thank you! I figured that SOMEone would be able to do that, but Sales told me no :cry:
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