Step 1: first you need a domain, if you have not got one then visit www.joker.com and get your domain.

Step 2: With a active domain you need a messaging service which can forward requests to view you page and email traffic to your home IP number. I use www.zoneedit.com, they are reliable, fairly easy to use and free for the first 5 domain names.

Step 2.1 set up IP forwarding as above, use you own domain though and replace the x’s with you IP address.

Step 2.1. now set up your mail handler as above.

Step 3. Your local router will need to know which computer to forward your email to. This could be you server or your own PC depending on your setup. I have a server tucked away under the stairs which is on 24/7.

· Incoming Mail Server (POP3, IMAP, HTTP)
The incoming mail server is the server associated with you email address account. There can not be more then one incoming mail server for an email account. In order to access your incoming messages, you need an email client: a program that can retrieve email from an email account, allowing a user to read, forward, delete, and reply to email messages. Depending on your mail server, you can use a dedicated email client (like Outlook Express) or a web browser (like Internet Explorer, for accessing web based email accounts, like Hotmail). The mail is held in storage on the incoming mail server until you download it. Once you have downloaded your mail from the mail server it cannot be downloaded again. In order to download your Email, you must have the correct settings configured in your Email client program. Most incoming mail servers are using one of the following protocols: IMAP, POP3, HTTP.

· Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
This is the server used only to send emails (to transport them from your email client program to the receiver). Most outgoing mail servers are using the SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for sending emails. Depending on your network settings, the outgoing mail server can belong to your ISP or to the server where you setup your email account. As an alternative, you can use a subscription based SMTP server (like smtp.com), which will allow you to send emails from any email account you already own. Due to anti-spam reasons, most of outgoing mail servers will not let you send emails if you are not logged on their network. An open-relay server will allow you to use it for sending emails, no matter if you belong to its network group or not, thus it is a heaven for spammers.

· Email Ports
For networks, a port means an endpoint to a logical connection. The port number identifies what type of port it is. Here are the default email ports for:

POP3 - port 110

IMAP - port 143

SMTP - port 25

HTTP - port 80

Secure SMTP (SSMTP) - port 465

Secure IMAP (IMAP4-SSL) - port 585

IMAP4 over SSL (IMAPS) - port 993

Secure POP3 (SSL-POP) - port 995

To complete this process open you routers web page and locate the forwarding section. Set the required ports which will be similar to mine below.

Step 4: Next you need a program which will deal with incoming and outgoing mail traffic. I use hMailServer. This is a great little program that is free to use and very reliable.

Check it out at http://www.hmailserver.com

Setting up is simple, for more info refer to the excellent help files at http://www.hmailserver.com.

Last but not least your email program settings, I use Thunderbird

Setting up your home email service

Setting up your home email service

Setting up your home email service