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Mailfoundry Hosted Anti-Spam Review

After using Mailfoundry Hosted Anti-Spam for a couple months, I decided to cancel my subscription today.  Why? I will tell you later but let me give you first my impression on this service.

I used Mailfoudry for FREE since they offer the service with no cost for ten email addresses.  That was before since effective May 1, 2011 they will start charging but they still provide 30-day free service.

The setup is very simple, no hardware or software required.  All you have to do is change your default MX record pointing to Mailfoundry.  They will provide you the details once you sign-up.  Next, is to simply add your e-mail addresses and IP address to the control panel and you're DONE.

I would say that the service is very efficient as I only get 1 or zero spam per day.  If you are worried that valid messages from your valid contacts are filtered incorrectly; you can simply whitelist the email addresses to the control panel.  Suspected messages are also quarantined and you can setup the notification.

I will not go further into details as I have said once everything is setup properly; Mailfounrdy Hosted Anti-Spam is a good service.

ONE AND ONLY CHALLENGE

When you change your default MX to Mailfoundry make sure that you IMMEDIATELY test your incoming email.  This is the tricky part of the service.

Hosting providers nowadays DO NOT allow "open mail relay"...What is Open Mail Relay?

An open mail relay is an SMTP server configured in such a way that it allows anyone on the Internet to send e-mail through it, not just mail destined to or originating from known users.  This used to be the default configuration in many mail servers; indeed, it was the way the Internet was initially set up, but open mail relays have become unpopular due to their exploitation by spammers and worms. Many relays were closed, or were placed on blacklists by other servers. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP_relay"

You need to explain this hard to your hosting provider in the event that s/he is not familiar with Mailfoundry service.  This explaining part is a serious challenge to those non-techie people who are pissed with spam messages and wants to use the service.  Some provider will even deny your application or will not allow this process.  Some server configuration is required to allow this process and that is up to your hosting provider if they will allow the setup.

WHY I CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION?

I'm actually about to pay for this service as my hosting provider is kind enough to accommodate my request of allowing Mailfoundry on the system.  However, I'm in a process of changing provider (again) because of other technical issues.  Of course I need to inquire and discuss this matter with my candidates and guess what, one of them denied my application since they do not allow this.  So, here's what I think is a good idea.

I e-mailed Mailfoundry support and asked if they have a page on their website explaining to the hosting providers the process of their service and I suggest to somehow educate these hosting providers from that page that all they have to do is this and that.  I even mentioned that I'm willing to post this process on my blog to educate the hosting providers (which I guess I already did now) about Mailfoundry service and how the service work and what to do.

Unfortunately, my email went to this guy which I think never likes his job.  I even gave him the sample error message when there's issue in the configuration.  Pretty much my assessment is he does not know what he is talking about and what I end up getting is a sarcasm.

I do not appreciate this attitude and I'm not willing to be further treated this way.  I know that my subscription with them is small but I believe that I deserve a better customer service.  This is not the first time that I felt that they are assuming that the service is immediately ok after changing the MX record and without the hosting provider do something on their end.

My only intention (in case this man was not able to read between the lines) is to tell them that..."Hey folks do you might want to create some detailed (How To) for the hosting providers.  At least we don't have to explain ourselves on how your service works."  Is that a bad idea?

IT'S NICE TO HAVE...

1. It's nice if you can consolidate and administer domains under one account.

2. Message logging or review panel.  If you're not using a contact form in your website and you have various email senders, then you might be worried that some valid messages are tagged as spam and deleted.  Although, you can whitelist email addresses it's still better if you have a way to review each messages and you decide whether they are spam or ham.

3. Comprehensive knowledgebase is very essential for both end-user and hosting providers.  A service that has impact on the result and process MUST have a comprehensive HOW TO available for both parties.   This is helpful to minimize the misunderstanding of any parties about the service.  This is also similar to SERVER MONITORING service.  Some hosting provider block the IP address of a third party monitoring provider.  The IP address of the monitoring company have to be added on the end-user firewall to monitor the server.

I will not close my door to this company as I'm satisfied but not now that I experienced this kind of support.
Maybe, next time if I don’t have any other options.