SMTP-mostly

In response to Verizon's policy, blocking users from using Verizon's SMTP unless the From header shows a Verizon email address, we have decided to provide a special SMTP-mostly (as opposed to SMTP only) service. (In all honesty, the idea wasn't ours - a collegue asked us to do it and we realized others might need it too. Read his illuminating letter. Since Verizon started this mess, many other major ISPs have jumped on the bandwagon, most recently Earthlink, so we can see this as an epidemic.).

It's only $25 a year for the SMTP-mostly service (500K max POP mailbox, 500K SMTP transfers daily). The POP mailbox is capped, meaning that you won't be able to get/store more than 500K of mail (if you need more than that, you'll need a full-fledged POP account instead of SMTP-mostly. Contact us for info).

The SMTP has no hard cap, but it is monitored, and the 500K is an considered "average usage" (it's actually a little more than average: a fairly-longish email is about 3K.). If one day you're sending out a lot of pictures of your new puppy, we can look the other way. If you're sending daily QuickTime movies about his litter training process to the 400 family members on your list, we'll have to talk about upgrades.

Our SMTP servers are not open relays, we use POP before SMTP (which is why we can't call it SMTP-only) to limit use of the server to subscribers only. We find this really useful when we're traveling, for example. The SMTP server also disallows any bulk mailings, of course. In order to use this POP before SMTP option, however, you must use email client software which allows for multiple personalities (or Dissociative Identity Disorder which is the current medical terminology). Most any decent email client will allow for this: Eudora, Outlook Express, Entourage, Mac OS X's Mail program, etc. Any version of Netscape before 6.x will not allow for this. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Everything is hosted on Macs, but any platform is supported (of course it's easier for you to set up if you've got a Mac, but what can we do?). We'll help you configure your email software so that you can be using our SMTP servers from your Verizon DSL or using whichever ISP you desire, anywhere in the world.

To register, choose a payment option from the box on the left side of the page. If you have questions about anything at all, or if you have some other need not addressed by this service, please do not hesitate to contact us.