Recommendations for/against Comcast Business as an email provider

[Dana Nowell]

In keeping with what appears to be list etiquette I have chosen to
partially ignore your subject line and provide an alternative solution
to your issue. :)

I have not used email through my Comcast business connection (have
Comcast + DSL for redundant connectivity at work).  Instead I chose to
use Postini (owned and run by Google) to filter spam, viruses, and
provide uptime.  They are NOT a free service but they are very cheap and
VERY GOOD.  It is simple to use and simple to setup.

Via the Postini web interface I had to: add email addresses and aliases,
setup my internal/receiving host server address, and specify some
options like level of spam filtering, whether to accept or reject email
to unlisted addresses, etc. After the intiial setup, adding an email
address or deleting one takes about 1 minute via a web interface.  To
learn the interface, understand the options (it's google, it can take a
bit), figure out all the actual addresses and aliases in use as opposed
to just configured, and setup 25+ email addresses with an additional 40
aliases took about a day.  Most of that was spent on items 2 and 3.  My
rambling point being: if you understand email options, it ain't rocket
science to setup.

At my internal site I had to setup postfix, web based email, and change
my MX records to point to Postini.  I also recommend you set the
firewall to only allow external mail access from the Postini servers
(after a delay to let the TTL for the old MX records die).

Net result, EXCELLENT spam filtering and stats (over the last hour 95%
of all my email never came down the pipe, currently all spam, no
viruses), virus scans by multiple anti-virus, virtually 100% uptime
(I've been down for maint before, they buffer several gigs of
deliverable email) and ZERO complaints (OK, I too have a user or two
that complains about EVERY spam message, that doesn't count).  Cost is
$12 per year per actual email address (not aliases, which are free).  I
think they have a more hosted version for about $25/year which MAY (or
may not) be closer to what you want, I haven't used it.  Pricing link
for various service options/levels is:

http://www.google.com/postini/compare.html

They provide an email summary to each user about quarantined emails and
the individual users can release their own quarantined messages if you
like.  They support user level white/black lists (again individual users
can manage them via the web interface).

I no longer have to update email anti-virus or spam lists, or deal with
users white/black lists, or deal with spooling during down time, ...  I
get to keep internal email with internal email security, scripted
backups, retention policies, etc.

The is a very low/no maintenance way to get web based filtering and
spooling but local email (no hacking of web email or social engineering
of web passwords, local backups and retention).

It gets you Google's uptime and spooling etc. that you mentioned, with
some local control.  Obviously the level of local control you may
want/need is likely one of the deciding factors in your case.

I think you can get a demo from them.  If not, let me know and I'll be
happy to show you the web interface if you are in the Nashua area.


On 2010-08-30 10:31, Ted Roche wrote:
> Slightly off-topic, although I got my foot stuck in this door since I
> have installed and maintain a LAMP server and apps at this client site.
> So, there's a bit of Linux in there.
> 
> I have a client running a small business with my LAMP server as his only
> non-desktop machine, and Comcast Business for internet provider. He's
> been using a patchwork of email services over the years (they use AOL
> and Yahoo! email addresses and a former web design firm provides their
> domain's POP server.) They are entitled to Comcast Business email as
> part of their internet package. I wondered if folks here had experience
> with setting up other clients with Comcast. In particular, my concerns
> are reliability (losing email during business hours means lost business)
> and whether they provide decent spam filtering.
> 
> I've set up other clients with Google and/or Google Apps Premier
> ($50/year/user) accounts, and their IMAP servers provide nearly 100%
> uptime and excellent spam filtering.
> 
> Providing email, spam filtering and network support is really beyond the
> scope of my services - mostly software development and application
> support -- so I'm hoping to find a service reliable enough to just
> configure once and leave running, with the occasional rare tweak. I
> don't see these folks having any need for an inhouse mail server if
> reliable services are available elsewhere.
> 
> I'd welcome any recommendations and/or experiences.
> 
>