Transmission https://xmission.com/blog XMission's Company Journal Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:40:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 XMission Celebrates 30 Years in Business on November 11, 2023 https://xmission.com/blog/2023/11/10/xmission-celebrates-30-years-in-business-on-november-11-2023 Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:59:17 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6349

XMission will celebrate its 30th anniversary this Saturday, November 11, 2023. Founded in 1993 by tech entrepreneur Pete Ashdown, XMission was Utah’s first Internet service provider (ISP) Over the past three decades, XMission has evolved from a one-person shop offering basic dialup connections to a leading residential and business services provider.

“When I founded XMission 30 years ago I had no idea it would last this long and make the impact it has,” said XMission president and founder, Pete Ashdown. “I owe it all to the great people who helped me build it and the customers who have supported us throughout the years.”

Currently, XMission provides residential connections in Utah and Montana, as well as business services worldwide. Services include residential and business fiber connectivity, web hosting, colocation, email, business phone services, and more.

In 2007, XMission became the first Internet service provider in Utah to upgrade to 100% renewable energy. XMission has also earned multiple scores of 100 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification.

For years XMission has worked closely with Utah nonprofits by donating free web hosting and connectivity to thousands of Utah nonprofits. Additionally, XMission annually sponsors a number of community-based events and facilities, including the University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair, the Utah Museum of Natural History, Craft Lake City, and the Ogden and Salt Lake City Twilight Concert Series.

XMission participates in the U.S. Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), offering Internet connectivity assistance to qualifying Utah households.

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All of your Speed Test Questions Answered https://xmission.com/blog/2023/01/09/all-of-your-speed-test-questions-answered Mon, 09 Jan 2023 15:54:11 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6128 Speed test websites or servers allow users to test the speed between their device and a server using the server’s Internet connection. Running speed tests are a great way to determine if you have a connectivity issue, however, there are a number of factors that can dramatically affect the results of your tests. We hope that after reviewing this post you’ll have a good understanding of how speed tests work, what to expect, and how to read them.

What is a speed test

An Internet speed test will give you an idea of how fast your connection is right now. Running a speed test will often measure your ping, download speed, upload speed, and jitter between the current device you are testing on and its connection. Speed test results are not the speed of your overall network, just the current device. Speed test services use your web browser or an app to send data back and forth during a specific amount of time. The data that is sent gets measured and will produce a visual result letting you know how your device registers. Please use multiple devices and multiple browsers when diagnosing if you have an issue with your XMission connection or your in-home network. It is also important to know that most ISPs do not guarantee advertised speeds on Wireless (WiFi). Please run your tests on devices that can be connected to your Internet connection with a Ethernet cable.

What does the test do?

Ping

Most services will run a ping test, this is a method of checking the network response on your device. This helps determine if there is any latency or delay between your device and the network. It will be common to see a high number on wireless connections over wired connections. Wireless connections are more prone to radio interference that can cause dropped packets and have slow response times to the host server being pinged.

  • Most ping tests will be reported in “ms” (milliseconds).
  • Results can vary depending on the host location.
    • Local and west coast hosts that return with less than 20ms are optimal, however results between 20 and 60ms are acceptable.
    • East coast hosts that return with less than 40ms are optimal, however results between 60 and 80ms are acceptable.
  • If results to US hosts are over 120ms this most likely means there is an issue with the host, connection, or device.

Jitter

A jitter test will typically test the consistency of your line. This is used to measure the transmission rate of your data and to determine if there are any errors during that transmission. Most jitter tests will be reported in “ms” (milliseconds). Results less than 30ms would be considered optimal. If results are over 30ms there could be an issue with the host, connection, or device.

Download Speed

This is the speed data that is typically transmitted between a host server and your device. Most services report this speed in Mbps (Megabits per second) and perform a “multi connection” test. This would be the equivalent of taking multiple devices and running separate tests at one time. Services do this in an attempt to max out your connection and see how much data you can transmit simultaneously to each other. Results will vary from test to test and device to device depending on the usage of the device, network, and host.

Upload Speed

This is the speed at which data is typically transmitted between a device and a host server. Upload is generally used when sending emails, posting to a social media site, or attaching an image to a form. Upload speeds are heavily affected by antivirus software on devices as they typically scan the test packets before those packets leave the device. We typically recommend temporarily disabling any security software before completing tests on your upload. Results will vary from test to test and device to device depending on the usage of the device, network, and host.

Additional tests

A speed test it is also recommended for computers on your in-home network. These tests help us determine where an issue might be and how to quickly resolve these issues.

  • Firewall information—You may have a firewall, antivirus, or parental controls on your in-home network. These can be hardware or software installed on your router or computer. Speed tests may timeout or fail to produce accurate numbers if these are enabled. We recommend that you connect your device directly to the UTOPIA access portal and bypass your router.

Latency

We often test how long it takes for a packet to make a round trip from your selected computer to a host. This test has to be done in a command prompt window. For Windows users, press the Windows Key + C and type CMD. For MacOS/Linux open a terminal.

Once you open your command prompt you will enter the command ping “server” or “ip address.”

$ping google.com
PING google.com (173.194.33.101) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from sea09s16-in-f5.1e100.net (173.194.33.101): icmp_req=1 ttl=59 time=17.3 ms

The information we are looking for is the “icmp time= xx.x ms” In our example above you will see that it took 17.3ms for the packet to go out and come back. Results less than 20ms are considered excellent and between results between 20ms and 60ms are optimal. If results are over 100ms, there could be an issue with the selected host or device. High latency is often caused by heavy Internet traffic, congested/overloaded routers, or network.

Packet Loss

Packet loss is when packets of data are dropped or lost during transmission from your device to the host. This can cause issues with certain online activities like XBOX, live streaming, gaming, or video calls. Often packet loss is caused by out-of-date hardware/software, old or damaged cables, radio interference, and network utilization. Depending on the type of Internet activity, 1–2.5% packet loss is acceptable, however at XMission we strive for zero. Results will vary depending on the utilization of your in-home network and home Internet use.

After cancelling the ping test from above you should see something similar to:

46 packets transmitted, 45 packets received, 2.2% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 8.977/10.551/15.969/1.442 ms

We sent 46 packets and one packet was lost giving a 2.2% packet loss. This would be in the acceptable range.

Why are my download speeds different than what I pay for?

Please be aware that Internet speeds are limited on wireless networking. If you are doing tests on a wireless connection, your results will vary and my not be accurate. XMission strives to provide the fastest connection we can over a wired connection and cannot guarantee these speeds over wireless connections. When possible, connect your device to your router using a Cat5e Ethernet cable.
Supported speeds are also dependent on the router and device hardware. Not all devices support Internet over 100Mpbs and most wireless devices don’t support Internet over 300Mbps.

Common Networking Hardware

Network Interface Cards (NIC) have different speed capabilities and will only connect at specific speeds. Depending on your device you may have an Ethernet NIC and a wireless NIC that support different speeds. It is important to verify what kind of hardware your device has when determining if you are not getting your advertised speeds.

Common Ethernet NIC are:

  • 10/100Mbps
  • 10/100/1000Mbps

Common wireless NIC are:

  • 10 (2.4GHz) 802.11b
  • 10/100 (2.4GHz) 802.11g
  • 10/100 (2.4GHz) 802.11n
  • 10/100/1000 (5GHz) 802.11n
  • 10/100 (2.4GHz) 802.11a
  • 10/100/1000 (5GHz) 802.11a
  • 10/100 (2.4GHz) 802.11ac
  • 10/100/1000 (5GHz) 802.11ac
  • 10/100 (2.4GHz) 802.11ax
  • 10/100/1000 (5GHz) 802.11ax

Common Networking Cable

Networking cables or Ethernet cables have different categories and support. You may have hardware that supports high speeds, but your cabling does not.
Cable Categories:

  • Cat-5 (100Base-T connections) will support speeds up to 100Mbps
  • Cat-5e (100Base-T/1000Base-T+) will support speeds up to 1000Mbps
  • Cat-6 (1000Base-EIA) Will support speeds up to 10Gbps
  • Cat-6a (EIA-568) Will support speeds up to 10Gbps (Replaced Cat-6 in 2008)
  • Cat-7 (Class F) Not recommended for speeds less than 2Gbps, recommended for outdoor wiring.

Common Wireless Speeds

Depending on the generation of your wireless NIC you may see limited Internet speeds. This is a limitation of hardware and radio frequency.
Common Wireless Speeds are:

  • 2.4GHz (802.11b–802.11a) typically only supports wireless speeds of 10–75Mbps.
  • 2.4GHz (802.11ac–802.11ax) typically only supports wireless speeds of 75–125Mbps.
  • 5GHz (802.11n and 802.11a) typically supports wireless speeds of 10–300Mbps.
  • 5GHz (802.11ac and 802.11ax) typically supports wireless speeds of 10–600Mbps.

What can affect my speeds?

Computer Software

  • Viruses/spyware/adware—Any form of infection on your PC can seriously slow down your connection. Make sure you are using the latest updates for any virus removal software (Norton, McAfee, AVG) and malware software (Malwarebytes) and run a scan at least once a week.
  • Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, etc.)—Web browsers have different capabilities and may provide different results, particularly on high-speed connections.
  • Browser Extensions—Ad blockers, Honey discount offers, and emoticons (add-on toolbars) will often slow and interrupt Internet speeds. This is because they scan website traffic before and during the rendering of your webpage.

In-home Networking

  • Number of connections in your home—You may have a wireless router that connects multiple devices. Most people have at least multiple cell phones, laptops, TVs, or smart home devices that connect at the same time. If any of those devices are on and streaming music, Netflix, Youtube, or any other multimedia site, this can impact your speeds.
  • Quality of cables or router—If you just upgraded your speed from a 10Mb connection to a 250Mb connection, your old router or Ethernet cables may not handle the higher speeds. It is recommended that you upgrade the Ethernet cables first then upgrade your router to make sure your router can handle the higher speeds. We have wiki articles that can help you troubleshoot.

Mother Nature

  • Weather conditions—Heavy rain and extreme weather conditions can affect your speed and your connection. (Arial fiber locations only)
  • Disconnections—If you experience a power outage, there is a chance your router did not power cycle properly. If you do not have your router connected to a UPS, you will need to unplug the power for at least 30 to 60 seconds to properly shut down and allow it to correctly come back up.
  • Time of day—While XMission has plenty of bandwidth to handle the backbone traffic, the Internet is used by more people during ‘peak’ hours of 6pm to 11pm creating a “rush hour”. Think of it as the city rush hour and traveling to a specific destination. You are driving the highway at typical speeds of 65 MPH. You come up to your exit (Netflix, Zoom, YouTube, etc) at the same time as everyone is starting to get off work. This causes the right hand lane and ramp to slow down and back up. Thus making it so you are not able to complete your travel to the destination at regular speeds, while the highway(XMission) is still traveling at 65MPH.

Testing Location

  • Website capacity—If you are going to a popular website where a lot of people are also visiting there is a chance that the website may perform poorly.
  • Most speed test websites use an application to run the speed test like Flash or Java. This will cause a potential protocol overhead, buffering due to may layers between the application, and the raw data transfer and throughput bursting due primarily to CPU usage. All of this is something called overhead and will result in your speeds being lower than what you actually pay for. As a result, you will never see 100Mb speeds if you have a 100Mb connection. However, you should see speeds in the range of 75 to 90Mbps if your devices are plugged directly into your router. If you are using wireless you will see much slower speeds.

Isn’t fiber dedicated?

Your XMission UTOPIA connection is a dedicated line from us to you. However, that doesn’t give you a dedicated connection to hosts that are not with XMission. During peak hours host providers are still seeing the same amount of load causing the response to your home to slow down. An example of this would be getting system updates. Most developers will release software updates that can be anywhere from 50Mb to 5Gb or larger. The server where these updates are posted can only support bandwidth at 100Mbps. If you have 50 people attempting to download that update all at the same time, you’d each share 100Mbps bandwidth causing the connection to slow down. If you attempted to download that update at the same time as five other people, your download will go much faster.

Where can I test?

It is not recommended to use the speed test function built into the router interface. This speed test function does not test a server within the northern region of Utah and will often produce slower results.

For Window 10 and Mac users we strongly suggest installing the Ookla App to get the most accurate results.

You can test your speeds at:

Please be aware that not all speed test servers are high-speed ready and may be capped at lower speeds than XMission or UTOPIA provide. For example, if you Google speed test you’ll be given an option to run a speed test from the search results. This test has a disclaimer advising: “To run the test, you’ll be connected to Measurement Lab (M-Lab).” This is advising you will be testing on a server that is located on the west or east coast. These tests have to travel further away causing results to be lower than you are actually getting.

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Media Release: XMission to Offer Bozeman, Montana Multi-Gigabit Connections on Yellowstone Fiber https://xmission.com/blog/2022/05/04/media-release-xmission-to-offer-bozeman-montana-multi-gigabit-connections-on-yellowstone-fiber Wed, 04 May 2022 14:31:45 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6318

This summer, XMission will offer up to 10 Gigabit Internet connections on the new Yellowstone Fiber network in Bozeman, Montana. Yellowstone Fiber will reach every home and business in Bozeman’s city limits, allowing XMission to expand its service area to thousands of new addresses.

“As Utah’s first Internet provider, XMission is thrilled to be offering our commitment to technical excellence and privacy to Montana,” said Pete Ashdown, president and founder, XMission.

Bozeman residents interested in learning more or in adding their names to a Yellowstone Fiber waitlist can do so on XMission’s website.

XMission joins this new fiber-to-the-premise network as a service provider as a result of Yellowstone Fiber’s work with UTOPIA, an operational partner of Yellowstone Fiber. XMission is the largest service provider on the UTOPIA network in Utah.

“Yellowstone Fiber is excited to welcome XMission to our Open Access network in Bozeman and Gallatin County,” said Greg Metzger, CEO, Yellowstone Fiber. “XMission’s reputation of delivering a class-leading customer experience with speeds up to 10 Gbps, will help Yellowstone Fiber usher in a new era of fast, affordable, and reliable connectivity in Montana,” he added.

XMission will begin providing service to Bozeman addresses as soon as Yellowstone Fiber completes construction across the city. Upon completion of the Bozeman network, Yellowstone Fiber will expand to eventually connect all of Gallatin County.

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Media Release: XMission Receives 4th Perfect Score of 100 on U.S. EPA Energy Star Certification https://xmission.com/blog/2022/04/19/media-release-xmission-receives-4th-perfect-score-of-100-on-u-s-epa-energy-star-certification Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:37:14 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6303

XMission has earned for the fourth time a perfect score of 100 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification. Scores for ENERGY STAR can range from 1 to 100. XMission’s perfect score indicates that XMission’s data center is more energy efficient than 100 percent of similar properties nationwide.

The EPA awards ENERGY STAR certification to the top 25 percent of data centers nationwide for energy efficiency and those that meet strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.

“XMission has been committed to efficient and clean use of energy throughout our 29 year history,” said Pete Ashdown, president and founder of XMission. “We are pleased to see our efforts confirmed.”

Nearly a decade ago, XMission started to explore what at the time were cutting edge energy efficiency strategies. By 2014, XMission had completed significant upgrades to its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organization and, most significantly, by making ongoing cost-effective improvements to its data center.

Since then, XMission has continued to fine tune its upgrades to earn the ENERGY STAR certification and at the highest score possible. XMission maintains hot/cold aisle containment, VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) fans, adiabatic humidification, and water-side economizing. Because of immediate cost savings due to its energy efficiency improvements, XMission has recouped its entire upgrade investment.

In 2007, XMission also became the first Internet service provider in Utah to upgrade to 100% renewable energy. XMission maintains its commitment to total sustainability by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from 3Degrees and by participating in Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Program. Since 2016, XMission has also participated in the EPA’s Green Power Partner Program.

ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including nearly 40% of the Fortune 500®—partner with EPA to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions that protect the climate while improving air quality and protecting public health. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped American families and businesses save 5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid more than $450 billion in energy costs, and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.

For more information about ENERGY STAR Certification for Industrial Facilities, please visit their website.

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Zimbra Email account recovery https://xmission.com/blog/2021/12/15/zimbra-email-account-recovery Wed, 15 Dec 2021 18:35:54 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6239 Forgetting your email password can be very frustrating, but fortunately there is an easy fix!

Zimbra business email users can recover their account by resetting their own passwords by using the “Forgot Password” link on Zimbra webmail login page. The process utilizes a recovery email address of the users choice—it doesn’t have to be under the Zimbra domain, and can be a valid third-party email address.

Setting up password recovery email

There are two parts to the account recovery using Zimbra’s password reset functionality.

Step One: Establish the recovery email address.

In the Zimbra web client (zimbra.xmission.com), go to Preferences > Accounts, and you’ll find a new section called Password Recovery Account Settings. Enter a valid email for password recovery address and click “Add Recovery Email.”

Step Two: Validate the recovery email address and save.

Open your recovery address mailbox and retrieve the verification code. This verification code is only valid for ten minutes. Return to the Zimbra webmail and enter the verification code in its field under the “Password Recovery Account Settings” section within ten minutes of clicking the “Add Recovery Email” button. This should confirm the setting. Remember to hit “Save” when existing Zimbra webmail preferences.

Your recovery process is now validated and established.

NOTE: If you have a personal Zimbra email address ending @xmission.com you will not be able to use this feature to recover your account and instead will need to update your password using the tools found at https://xmission.com/control

Using forgot password to reset your password

Once a recovery email is setup, the Zimbra self-service password recovery can be used.

To recover your Zimbra mailbox account you can click on the “Forgot Password” link on the Zimbra web client login page (zimbra.xmission.com).

Zimbrapwrecov1.png

Enter the full email address of the account you are trying to recover, then click the “Submit” button.

Zimbrapwrecov2.png

On the following page, click the “Request Code” button at the bottom of the box. This will send a code to your recovery email address. Like the verification code, this reset code is only valid for ten minutes.

Zimbrapwrecov3.png

Open that address mailbox and retrieve the reset code which you will enter on the Zimbra webmail recovery form. The email will look like this:

Zimbrapwrecov4.png

Go back to the Zimbra webmail recovery form, and enter the reset code within ten minutes of clicking the “Request Code” button from the previous page. Then click the “Verify Code” button.

Zimbrapwrecov5.png

On this page you can either choose to log into the web client directly, or you can choose to reset your password. We’ll want to choose “Reset Password” for this example.

Zimbrapwrecov6.png

At this point you will be prompted to establish a new password. NOTE: Always create new secure passwords, never reuse passwords from other sites as they are likely compromised. Password managers make this process easy and will generate secure passwords for you. Once you have entered and confirmed your new password, click the “Submit” button to set it.

Zimbrapwrecov7.png

With that, your password has been reset!

IMPORTANT: Remember to update all devices and applications that were using the previous password. This can include email, calendars, contacts, tasks, notes, and files.

John Webster, XMission Email Product Manager and Zimbra evangelist, has worked at XMission for over 25 years doing his favorite thing: helping companies securely communicate with customers through technology to grow their business. When he’s not uncovering Zimbra’s secrets you might find him capturing carbon and gardening.  Connect with him on LinkedIn today!

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What to do when your Internet goes out https://xmission.com/blog/2021/04/07/what-to-do-when-your-internet-goes-out Wed, 07 Apr 2021 21:07:55 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6216 It’s Friday night and it’s time to wind down and watch a good movie on your favorite streaming service. You have your popcorn ready and you press play. Everything seems great then all of a sudden your movie starts buffering, you get that spinning circle of death, then a message comes across the screen: NO SIGNAL. It appears that your Internet may have gone down. Here are some great trouble shooting steps you can take to help fix this issue.

 

  • Try another device
    • It is entirely possible that the problem you are encountering is an issue with the device you are using. Trying a different device will determine if you have an issue with the device you are using or with your Internet connection.
  • Power cycle your wireless router
    • If there are any issues with your connection, one of the very first things that can help you resolve your problem is to power cycle your router. This is a simple, easy step that 95% of the time will fix network related issues, poor wireless issues, slow speeds, and even video buffering.
    • Simply unplug the power from your wireless router for 30 seconds to one minute. After that time you can plug your router back in, and your services should be restored.
    • DO NOT RESET your wireless router.
  • Verify cables are secure
    • While you are power cycling your wireless router, it doesn’t hurt to verify that all the cables are secure.
    • Check both ends of the Ethernet cables to make sure they are securely connected. If you are unsure you can unplug the Ethernet cables, usually yellow or blue in color, and plug them back in to ensure a proper connection.
    • Please DO NOT rearrange any Ethernet cables! If your Internet is not working, moving the cables around will not make it work. Keep everything the way it is and contact support if needed.
  • Check for reported outages
    • If you have power cycled your router and you still do not have an Internet connection, you can use your cell phone to check our Twitter feed @xmissionstatus or our status page which will indicate if there is an outage in your city. Once XMission posts a known outage, you can stop troubleshooting your connection and simply await additional instructions.
  • If your power goes out
    • If your power goes out, don’t call support. We will not be able to help you until your power is restored. We will post to our Twitter and status page of known outages. Once your power is restored your UTOPIA equipment will take approximately three to five minutes to boot up. Once that is online your wireless router will also come back online. After everything is powered back on your Internet should be restored. If you are still having trouble, please give support a call.

 

Some things to remember:

  • Moving cables to different ports will not restore your Internet service. Unless instructed by a support representative, you should keep all your wires in the same ports they were in before you had issues.
  • Factory resetting your router is a last resort as this is an advanced troubleshooting step. Unless instructed by a support representative resetting should not be done. Resetting your router will prolong you getting back online, as it will require you to reconfigure your router like you did when you first purchased it. This will include setting up any custom configuration and setting up your wireless network name and password again.
  • You should never press the reset button on your UTOPIA equipment.

In Conclusion:

As with any other product or service from cars to your hair dryer, there are things we can control and things we cannot. XMission does our best to make sure the Internet is up and running for you 24/7/365. We know how important it is to you. When we experience an outage we do our best to make sure you are informed and we give you detailed information as we receive it ourselves. Remember: A quick power cycle of your router will fix the most common Internet related issue, however if your connection doesn’t come back up after a power cycle, you can give us a call and we can look into things for you. It is always best to call the experts than to move around cables and reset routers, as these steps will only delay you getting back online.

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Introducing Zimbra Cloud with XMission https://xmission.com/blog/2020/09/16/introducing-zimbra-cloud-with-xmission https://xmission.com/blog/2020/09/16/introducing-zimbra-cloud-with-xmission#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2020 19:28:19 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6169 XMission is pleased to announce the addition of Synacor’s new Zimbra Cloud to our email and collaboration product line.

This high availability platform offers the latest in collaboration tools with a sleek new webmail experience. The power of responsive design means users can move seamlessly between desktop, mobile, and tablet browsers with a consistent look and feel.  Zimbra Cloud lets you launch your favorite applications right from webmail. Supported integrations incluZimbra Cloud Integration Partner Logosde Slack, Zoom, Webex, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft Drive, and Jitsi with many more on the way! Watch for an upcoming release of the new Zimbra Cloud iOS and Android mobile apps for support teams on the go.

Sign up with our 30/30/$30 Promotion

Try Zimbra Cloud today and receive a 30-day free trial and 30GB of quota per mailbox for just $30 per year per mailbox on a one-year agreement, all risk-free. To enhance your cloud email experience, your account includes free DNS management tools through XMission’s control panel.

Shy on one year pre-pay plans? Month-to-month is available for $3 per mailbox monthly.

Quota your way

Add 5GB for $.50 per month, 10GB for $1, 25GB for $2.50, and 100GB for $7.50. There is no limit to how much quota you can add.

On-boarding is easy

The new migration tool is so easy to use and provides powerful dedicated resources to migrate your mailbox from all major platforms including Gmail, M365, or even your current on-site Zimbra mail server.  Your mailbox users can literally migrate their own email in just minutes. Zimbra Cloud makes administration painless.

Zimbra Cloud can be purchased as a standalone or with a support package. If you choose standalone you can find answers to common questions on the Zimbra Cloud Email Help page.

Upgrade to human support

Zimbra Support TechXMission’s domestic support team has your back! Our 24/7 Zimbra Cloud support packages start at just $20 per month. This package includes seven mailboxes and each additional mailbox is only $3 per month. That means your users can contact our team any time of the day or night to get help.

Purchasing Zimbra Cloud through XMission does not require you to buy support plans, so feel free to add one at any time.

Platform

Zimbra Cloud is hosted by Synacor, the owner of Zimbra, and hosted in Oracle’s new cloud platform. Backed by 99.9% uptime, you can rest assured Zimbra Cloud is email you can rely on.

Zimbra Cloud Integration Videos

Zimbra Cloud Overview Demo

Slack & Dropbox

Google Drive

Buy now

If you already have email through XMission, simply email us or call our sales team to add Zimbra Cloud. New customers can sign up online.

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Media Release: XMission Provides Computers to Utah Students https://xmission.com/blog/2020/06/09/media-release-xmission-provides-computers-to-utah-students Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:28:03 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6116

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the necessity of students having access to computers at home. XMission is partnering with the Salt Lake Education Foundation to provide 50 laptop computers to underserved Salt Lake City School District students.

The pandemic has worsened the digital divide and has put low-income students at a greater disadvantage for successful distance learning. While computers are vital for remote learning, they are also essential for learning throughout the regular school year.

“XMission is proud to help close the digital divide, so every student can have accesses to education on the Internet,” said Pete Ashdown, president and founder, XMission. “We challenge our fellow tech companies to do the same.”

Digital inclusion helps ensure that all members of school communities, including those that might be at more of a disadvantage, are able to fully participate in the necessary learning experiences. The Salt Lake Education Foundation is working with community partners towards digital inclusion for all students.

“We are grateful to XMission for supporting our students’ educational needs,” said James Yapias, Salt Lake Education Foundation Director. “They are a leader in closing the digital divide and helping work towards digital inclusion.”

Computers will be given out to selected families Tuesday, June 9, 2020.

About Salt Lake Education Foundation
The Salt Lake Education Foundation supports every student in the Salt Lake City School District, helping ensure that they achieve their goals both in and out of the classroom. The foundation relies on the support of the community to help students, whether it is volunteers helping with a school musical, gifts of food for families or funds to assist with elementary STEM activities.

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Online Security for Kids: Using Fun Passwords https://xmission.com/blog/2020/04/09/online-security-for-kids-using-fun-passwords https://xmission.com/blog/2020/04/09/online-security-for-kids-using-fun-passwords#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2020 19:30:57 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6072 Now more than ever, our children’s lives are dominated by digital devices and social media platforms. Online education for most K–12 students is the new norm as even young children spend hours a day online.

With this new way of life, some well-intentioned educators are instructing students to use insecure passwords with personally identifiable screen names, and, even worse, are sometimes requiring students to use the same username and password credentials for multiple accounts. Unfortunately, many educators are unaware of online security best practices. This means it is important for parents to confirm that the credentials provided by their school are sufficiently secure.

Kids spending more time online plus a lack of security training can be a dangerous combination. Google reports phishing and fraudulent sites are up 350% in recent months. This means “hackers” are working as hard to get your child’s personal information as they are to get yours. When a hacker gets a child’s credentials it often means they now have access to the child’s personal information, access to their friends, and access to family. 

We encourage parents to take an active role in teaching their kids best practices for creating unique screen names with secure passwords to protect their personal information online. Many parents are just learning how to use online tools themselves, giving them an opportunity to learn as they help their children.

To help you meet these goals, here are some kids’ essentials for good password security:

  1. Never share. Teach your children to never share their password with anyone but you or an approved guardian. Whenever they do share a password, they need to tell you with whom, when, and why.
  2. Be unique. Make sure your children create unique usernames and passwords for each account.
  3. Make it fun! Kids love random words that are funny to them. Leverage this to create long, memorable, and secure passphrases. The general rule is that longer is safer. Start with three words, then have the kids spice it up with numbers, characters, and lowercase and uppercase letters. Decide on the funniest letter in the middle of one word to make uppercase. Here are examples of ok passwords: nachos4bunny-faRts!  elMo-2nose!pick
  4. Avoid simple. Some online educational systems provided by the schools are outdated and have limited password options. In those cases, remind children to avoid using simple or common dictionary words, names, dates, numbers only, or obvious choices such as 12345678, password, or sequential keystrokes such as qwerty789.
  5. Skip common misspellings. Don’t replace  “a” with “@” or “i” with “1” or “!”. Teach them why that makes a b@dp@ssword. (Hint: It’s super easy to guess!)
  6. Change short passwords often. Short passwords (8–12 characters) should be changed at least two to three times per year. Longer passwords (13–24 characters) can be changed yearly, and really long passwords (25–64) almost never need to be changed.
  7. Never re-use passwords. Please remind kids it is not safe to re-use passwords, even if they no longer use an existing password on another website. 
  8. Password manager. Password managers keep you safer, but sadly most US schools do not allow the use of password managers. If your school does, please remind kids to use their app consistently and make their master password difficult to crack.

Giving your kids a solid foundation of online security practices now will limit their risks of identity and personal information theft as they grow. Understanding online best practices and proper screen name and password-protection measures will significantly lower risk factors and help keep their information safe.

Please read our other posts on passwords and online security.

John Webster, XMission Email Product Manager and Zimbra evangelist, has worked at XMission for over 24 years doing his favorite thing: helping companies securely communicate with customers through technology to grow their business. When he’s not uncovering Zimbra’s secrets you might find him in our beautiful Utah mountains.  Connect with him on LinkedIn today!

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Self-Service Tips During Longer Hold Times https://xmission.com/blog/2020/03/19/self-serve-tips-during-longer-hold-times Thu, 19 Mar 2020 21:31:49 +0000 https://xmission.com/blog/?p=6033 Recently, XMission has seen longer than normal support hold times in spite of our best efforts. If you experience the following common problems, we encourage you to try some preliminary self-service support.

Issues connecting to the Internet

Here are some troubleshooting steps to get you back online.

  • Please disconnect the power to your personal wireless router (This does not include the UTOPIA provided equipment) for at least one to two minutes and plug it back in. This typically resolves most connectivity issues.
  • It is also important to look at your wireless router and see what your LED Lights indicate. Typically, if you have no LED or red/amber LED for the “Internet light,” (this can be the router logo or a light that has a ring swooping around a circle) your router is unable to connect to XMission. If your LED Internet light is white/green, you have a solid connection with XMission. You can also refer to your router’s user manual to see what each LED light color indicates.

Poor Internet performance

  • If your primary Internet connection is over a wireless device XMission cannot guarantee full Internet speeds. However, we can do our best to optimize your home or business connection.
  • Due to the current pandemic, XMission understands how essential a reliable Internet conneciton is for telecommuting. Our admins have worked extensively to ensure we are always prepared for changes in usage patterns and to guarantee the performance of our network. However, if you are required to use a VPN or change your default Internet settings to be able to work from home, we recommend that you use a device that is plugged directly in to your router. This will give you the best results and stability.
  • If you are having any performance questions we ask that you take a moment to use our XMission App for Android and Apple smart devices to run self-diagnostics and get help in optimizing your wireless Internet. Our previous blog post will walk you through how to download and use the app.

Trouble accessing email

  • Email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mail on Mac, or Thunderbird are not your XMission email service. If you are receiving any kind of error within these programs, it typically means there is a communication issue between the email client and XMission.
  • When receiving errors we suggest looking at the knowledge base for the email client software you are using to help locate and diagnose what is causing the error:
  • You can also use webmail to send and receive email if you are having issues with your email client. To log into XMission’s webmail:
  • XMission also provides an extensive online help page for our email services.
  • Email passwords should also be updated yearly. If your email client alerts you that your password is not valid, it’s possible that XMission has expired that password. To confirm this you will need to log in to XMission webmail and you should be prompted to update your password.
  • Trouble with spam or phishing emails
  • Thanks to customers who take the time to report phishing/spam email to us. Please remember, XMission will never ask for your password via email or web form. If you get a phishing/spam email and respond, we recommend you immediately update your password.
  • If you have any phishing/spam emails please continue to forward emails to spam@xmission.com or click on “Report as Spam” in your webmail interface.

Issues with XMission Voice

  • If you are having issues making or receiving phone calls, you should be able to resolve this by completing an extended power cycle of your installed telephone adapter. This adapter is most likely a Obihai or Cisco device. Please remove the power to this device and wait for three to five minutes. Once you power it back on it can take five to ten minutes for service to restore. If you have completed this and waited the full recommended time, XMission will need to do some more advanced troubleshooting.

By taking the steps above you should be able to get your service restored quickly. However, XMission recognizes that these issues may not resolve without additional support. Our support department is available 24/7. Again, we ask for your patience with possible lengthy hold times. If you do find yourself attempting to reach out for support and do not have a system-critical issue please try emailing us and we will respond within 24 to 48 hours.

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