Hi Wendy2,
My home ISP is Road Runner through BrightHouse and I used their email for years. When I got my first Android phone, I found that RR would not allow me send emails using my RR account unless I was logged into their network my homearea. This meant that I could only send new messages or reply to someone unless I was at home or connected to one of the BrightHouse hotspots in my area. I found this unsatisfactory and switched to gmail and never looked back. It is a pain initially getting all your friends and business contacts to start using your new address but it was worth it. Also, you can tell gmail to download your RR messages into gmail while you are switching over. Well worth the effort.
Walter