Sponsored Links

Email file sizes.

I have just been having a conversation about the maximum email size and it occurred to me that this hasnt changed since the dark ages.

Has anyone heard of any proposals to increase the maximum size limit??

With so many people now getting fixed line or mobile speeds in excess of 20Mbps, it seems a little silly to have a 12MB limit on emails.
 
I'm not aware of any size limit on emails, other than that imposed by the provider, usually at the receiving end.

Having just had a look - we use a company called Intermedia - the limit there is 50MB by default, but you can log in and change it.

As a general rule, if I'm sending something to somebody - if the attachment size would be over about 6MB I'll tend to zip and upload it and send them a link to fetch it just as a courtesy since almost all of my customers only have BT ADSL and even if the attachment size is acceptable to the server, they probably won't enjoy their mailbox locking up for ages while the attachment downloads especially if it's to a mobile device.
 
Much the same here.
The limit does depend on the recipient as well as on my own web host, of course, so if I'm sending to my sister, who uses g-mail, I'm limited to 25 MB, but if I'm sending a load of stuff to my friend in South Australia 30MB or even 40MB is no problem. I'd guess the limit at both my end and hers is 50MB - one day when something won't go, we will find out! :laugh:
 
Sponsored Links
Captain_Cretin, what file limits?

As the others have said, the only limits have been imposed by the providers themselves. The default config for most Unix email software tends to be 100MB, so unless the providers change this upon deployment, then I think your be safe to send larger emails.

That all said, over 100MB, really other mediums maybe a better choice, such as FTP, cloud storage (to share) etc.
 
One key thing to bear in mind is that if you want to download a 1GB file then you make that choice and instigate it.

On the other hand, if your mailbox max attachment size were 250MB then someone need only 'flood bomb' you with four emails and there's your 1GB gone - and unlike the above you did not choose that. The only way of stopping it is to 'download headers only' or go online and use Webmail to delete it.
 
personally, the only thing l use email for these days is shopping and validation purposes for the various accounts l have... other than that 90% of my communications are done via instant messaging/VoIP and forums and file transferring is generally done through Skype or cyber lockers.. tho it depends on what lm transferring (for example if l were to transfer say a bank statements[unlikely] then ld do so directly to the individual but if l wanted to transfer a home movie then ld use a cyber locker).

that said, having been on dialup and slow net in the past l tend to feel that sending large files via email can be annoying unless specifically requested by the recipient l tend to link them remotely.. in fact recently lve taken to using my friends server (borrowed a few megs of his space to transfer files under 100meg).
 
Sponsored Links
It has been a few years since I tried to send a large attachment, I have other alternatives these days, but up until 5-6 years ago I encountered problems sending anything over 10-12Mb; it would get bounced saying file too large.

This was using a couple of BT resellers on ADSL platforms.

Experimentation told me that 12MB was the limit on my sending, but some receivers email server wouldnt allow more than 10MB.

I am talking about email servers, not email clients here, I know TB can handle much larger files sizes as I did have it linked into my QQ account for a while, and sent/received files in the 100's of MB.

@DT

I have been running Mailwasher for a decade, it downloads headers only, and text only on request, so very little gets into my PC via email unless I want it to.
 
[Edit - I'm a post behind due to slow typing - this was a response to drsox!]

I'd agree with you in principle - the problem is persuading technologically clueless and/or lazy recipients that there's a better way!
About 50% of the time (very rough guess), they want everything in one place, i.e. they want the documents (whatever) with the message, they don't want to have to click a link to somewhere else to get their stuff and get the hump if I suggest an alternative.

I've even had people tell me that it "isn't safe" clicking links in an e-mail, because they don't understand the difference between a perfectly legitimate link in a mail from someone they know, yours truly, and the scam they were warned about in the hysterical "Monster E-mail Virus from Mars Ate My Hamster" story in that morning's copy of the Daily Dummy.
:rolleyes:
 
As others have said, it's all a matter of provider choice and sometimes the end-user can override that. Generally email is good for direct text communications but I'd never use it for big attachments, it's highly inefficient.

Similarly quite a lot of people have their clients setup to download first rather than preview, which means the recipient might wait until an email has been downloaded before seeing the rest of their mail.. a big problem on slower broadband links. Plus spam-filters seem more likely to delay emails with attachments. A slightly more intelligent approach can get around that but it's still the way I see a lot of client’s setup.

If I need to share a big attachment with somebody I'll upload it online to a private store in the so-called cloud or setup a private P2P/FTP server session with the receiver.
 
The first time I ran into a real problem with email limits was trying to send an album copy to a friend in Paris; now we both OWNED THE REAL CD, but he had managed to leave his in the UK, so I offered to get an electronic copy out to him.

Sine email was no use I gave the mp3 encoded file a strange name, uploaded it via torrent and sent him the link.

Someone else thought the file was interesting, renamed it and now Loudon Wainwright has a song called "Golden Protest" about his songs appearing on the share sites.

(Sorry Loudon)

Until I uploaded the file, you couldnt find a single one of his albums online, now all of them are out there!!!

"(Sorry again Loudon - I am a BIG fan and go to your concerts whenever you are in the area; I was there for the riot in Birmingham a few years back - great show!!).
 
Sponsored Links
I've had some of these problems about sizes, when I was transferring all my work emails from opera mail to outlook, cause my manager asked me about it. Long story short, a lot of huge sized emails were deleted, cause there was no chance to move them properly.
 
I have just been having a conversation about the maximum email size and it occurred to me that this hasnt changed since the dark ages.

Has anyone heard of any proposals to increase the maximum size limit??

With so many people now getting fixed line or mobile speeds in excess of 20Mbps, it seems a little silly to have a 12MB limit on emails.

Ive wondered this myself too but im finding that im emailing less and less over the last few years. Most of my friends and collegues are on facebook/whatsapp.

I remember when I was working for a marketing company a few years ago we'd get 2000+ emails a day and I had to man the main slot of the day at the front desk.

I think that experience was enough to make me loathe the email and find whatsapp and facebook just as useful for messages now (unless its someone i dont know then its an email).
 
From a business perspective I find FB and WhatsApp messaging too restrictive in terms of archive and organisation by contacts. Still hard to beat a well organised email client and sorted folders.
 
Email encoding is incredibly inefficient. Sending a large file over email instantly increases it's size by a huge percentage (33 %)...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_attachment

Even if your provider allows it.. don't use email for large attachments!

Tom - www.mouselike.org
this is the problem with emails. converting to text business

We now moved to Slack and all the issues with emails are gone away. I hardly check my emails now only do deal with suppliers with google mail I can search any emails even if I remember one word.
 
Sponsored Links
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Sky Broadband UK ISP Logo
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5443)
  2. BT (3497)
  3. Politics (2513)
  4. Openreach (2285)
  5. Business (2242)
  6. Building Digital UK (2226)
  7. FTTC (2040)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1954)
  9. Statistics (1770)
  10. 4G (1648)
  11. Virgin Media (1603)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1446)
  13. Wireless Internet (1384)
  14. Fibre Optic (1384)
  15. FTTH (1380)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules