Need Spam block for Mac Mail

[LavenderLounge]

I use Mac Mail and I desperately need a Spam Block. My email is hosted at Webair.

I've never researched this before and don't know where to start.

Thanks.

[steven619]

If you are interested..

We started using a spam block/filter from appriver.

www.appriver.com

Although you can't get it direct from appriver you can get it at http://www.dotcomhost.com/menu/spam_...ng/index.shtml (our sister hosting company)

You will have to have them point their mail server to appriver but it really helped cut down on my spam. And it also gives you daily summary.

The really cool parts...

1. Spam hits their servers so if it's tagged as spam it doesn't hit your system and cost you bandwidth.

2. I still get my gay email (training took only about a week) but all other spam is caught.

Steven

[LavenderLounge]

Is it installed by my host on their machines or on mine?

[steven619]

Your hosting company doesn't need to install anything and you don't need anything either.

The way it works is that your (raw) email is redirected to AppRiver (email spam company) and it is filtered.

Good emails are then sent to you.
Possible spam emails are held by Appriver.

To see your "held" spam you go to a special URL/Webpage and login.
You will see a summary list of spam email that you can over-ride individual emails it believes is bad and mark them as good.

The only think you need to tell your hosting company is to change your MX record in the DNS. (MX record is just your "email" information). They will know what to do. There is not reason to change your host or do anything different on your MAC (or PC).

I've been using it for about 4 months now and has cut my email from 500 messages a day to about 30. And less then 2% of those 30 are spam that got through. That saves me about 20 minutes a day and a lot of bandwidth.

The system also scans for virus attachments.

If you have any more questions let me know.

[LavenderLounge]

That sounds like the type of system I need!

Can anyone else suggest another competitor for comparison sake?

[steven619]

If you have server access you can also use "SpamAssassin".
It is free and trainable.

Sometimes your hosting company may already have this or it is tied into your web control panel (Ensim, Plesk ...). Check with that first and maybe all you need to do is configure it.

www.spamihilator.com is "free" and trainable.
I have not used this but it has good marks.

www.cloudmark.com is another "PC BEST" rated software.

And there are a bunch of other paid and free.
I personally avoid desktop filtering as it always messes something up on my system (thank you windows). Server based is a bit better (In my use). Options like AppRiver stops the spam from even hitting your server..saves your CPU resources, bandwidth, and a few other items.

Call your hosting company and see if they already have something in place. Something is better then nothing.