Upgrading our shared hosting platform to SmarterMail Version 4 has allowed us to utilize the greylisting method to fight spam.
If you are experiencing a spam issue then this is the setting you should not be without. Some of our customers have reported a 90% reduction in SPAM thanks to greylisting.
In this article I will be covering what greylisting is all about and how we are able to allow the use of this spam fighting method at Appliedi.net with the implementation of SmarterMail 4.
Smartermail 4 is available as both shared hosted and a dedicated hosted solution.
The greylisting method will temporarily block email from any sender it does not recognize. If the email is coming from a legit mail server then it will attempt to redeliver the message. Most spammer tools will not attempt redelivery and this is what greylisting relies on to get it's effectiveness.
However, as with everything else out there you must pay a price. The disadvantage to greylisting (and this is not just in Smartermail 4) is the receipt must wait 15 minutes for a message delivery if the sender is not trusted by the SmarterMail 4 server.
NOTE: It is important you keep in mind that the time parameter can be modified and may be different for other implementations and systems.
Two alternatives exist to the methodology discussed above:
1. Add the email address(es) or domain name(s) to your list of trusted senders.
2. Mark an email as "not spam".
This causes all spam filtering for that email to be bypassed.
As mentioned earlier, since our Smartermail 4 hosted solution is configured to reject email for 15 minutes by default this may cause a small delivery attempt delay.
If greylisting is not for you then here is how you can bypass it.
1. Login to your Smartermail 4 server by going to mail.yourdomain.com
2. Select Settings -> My Settings
3. Check the Bypass Greylisting option.
4. Click Save.
Click here to learn more about Smartermail 4 hosting.