John Aldridge
2015-04-19 18:01:07 UTC
Restructured a little for clarity, and feedback incorporated
------------------
Demon/Thus/C&W/Vodafone (henceforth 'Demon') have announced that they are
transferring web hosting, domain and email products to intY Limited and
Namesco Limited, who are part of the same company group. There's an
announcement at
<http://help.demon.net/announcements/important-service-change-transfer-
of-demon-web-hosting-domain-and-email-products-to-inty-limited/>
and a FAQ at
<http://help.demon.net/domain-hosting-transfer/>
1. What's happening to web pages?
We're not sure, but we think that Demon have stopped providing any web
hosting services, including the 20 MB homepages service which came
bundled with many dialup or broadband packages. Web sites which used to
be hosted by Demon have been copied to Namesco servers, and can now be
administered through them. The www.<hostname>.demon.co.uk DNS records now
resolve to Namesco servers, as do any paid-for web site domain names
which used to be hosted by Demon. Much of this transfer has worked
transparently, although people are reporting that pages not encoded as
UTF8 (or ASCII) are being mangled.
If you need help gain access to your Namesco account, Namesco support can
help and can be reached on 0345 363 3634.
There's conflicting information about how long www.<hostname>.demon.co.uk
websites will continue to be available: the Demon FAQ regarding this
change says 2 years, one person has been told 3 months by Namesco
support.
2. What's happening to email?
We're not sure, but we think that email provision is being transferred
formally to intY (who were already providing these services under
subcontract to Demon).
We've not seen reports of any problems attributable to this change with
email sending or receiving.
We don't know how long email to <user>@<hostname>.demon.co.uk addresses
will continue to work. Probably something between 3 months and the 2
years claimed by the Demon FAQ.
3. So what will happen to all the existing <hostname>.demon.co.uk
domains?
We don't know. For the short term, either Demon or Namesco/intY (we don't
know which) will make the necessary DNS adjustments so that this all
works.
In the longer term it seems at least possible that they will simply cease
to exist.
4. How much will this cost me?
We think that, after 60 days trial period, Namesco/intY will start
charging £4.99/month to keep running homepages web services which were
previously bundled with Demon dialup or broadband. If you don't pay,
they'll stop working.
We don't know whether you'll need to pay this fee to keep <user>@
<hostname>.demon.co.uk addresses working. The Demon announcement page
seems to imply not, but the Demon FAQ seems to imply that you will.
They will also be charging for providing services corresponding to any
old paid-for Demon services. We don't know how those charges will
compare.
5. Why haven't I heard anything about this?
Some people have recieved explanatory (if ambiguous) letters or emails,
but it seems as if Demon have lost (or failed to tell Namesco) contact
details for many affected customers. The first thing many people have
noticed is that although their web pages are still available, they can no
longer administer them via Demon.
6. This is outrageous.
You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.
------------------
Demon/Thus/C&W/Vodafone (henceforth 'Demon') have announced that they are
transferring web hosting, domain and email products to intY Limited and
Namesco Limited, who are part of the same company group. There's an
announcement at
<http://help.demon.net/announcements/important-service-change-transfer-
of-demon-web-hosting-domain-and-email-products-to-inty-limited/>
and a FAQ at
<http://help.demon.net/domain-hosting-transfer/>
1. What's happening to web pages?
We're not sure, but we think that Demon have stopped providing any web
hosting services, including the 20 MB homepages service which came
bundled with many dialup or broadband packages. Web sites which used to
be hosted by Demon have been copied to Namesco servers, and can now be
administered through them. The www.<hostname>.demon.co.uk DNS records now
resolve to Namesco servers, as do any paid-for web site domain names
which used to be hosted by Demon. Much of this transfer has worked
transparently, although people are reporting that pages not encoded as
UTF8 (or ASCII) are being mangled.
If you need help gain access to your Namesco account, Namesco support can
help and can be reached on 0345 363 3634.
There's conflicting information about how long www.<hostname>.demon.co.uk
websites will continue to be available: the Demon FAQ regarding this
change says 2 years, one person has been told 3 months by Namesco
support.
2. What's happening to email?
We're not sure, but we think that email provision is being transferred
formally to intY (who were already providing these services under
subcontract to Demon).
We've not seen reports of any problems attributable to this change with
email sending or receiving.
We don't know how long email to <user>@<hostname>.demon.co.uk addresses
will continue to work. Probably something between 3 months and the 2
years claimed by the Demon FAQ.
3. So what will happen to all the existing <hostname>.demon.co.uk
domains?
We don't know. For the short term, either Demon or Namesco/intY (we don't
know which) will make the necessary DNS adjustments so that this all
works.
In the longer term it seems at least possible that they will simply cease
to exist.
4. How much will this cost me?
We think that, after 60 days trial period, Namesco/intY will start
charging £4.99/month to keep running homepages web services which were
previously bundled with Demon dialup or broadband. If you don't pay,
they'll stop working.
We don't know whether you'll need to pay this fee to keep <user>@
<hostname>.demon.co.uk addresses working. The Demon announcement page
seems to imply not, but the Demon FAQ seems to imply that you will.
They will also be charging for providing services corresponding to any
old paid-for Demon services. We don't know how those charges will
compare.
5. Why haven't I heard anything about this?
Some people have recieved explanatory (if ambiguous) letters or emails,
but it seems as if Demon have lost (or failed to tell Namesco) contact
details for many affected customers. The first thing many people have
noticed is that although their web pages are still available, they can no
longer administer them via Demon.
6. This is outrageous.
You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.