If you prefer to use an email client but your mail server’s spam filters aren’t doing a good job, you can use Gmail as a go-between for better spam filtration.
Step 1. Get a Gmail account.
Go to http://mail.google.com/mail/signup and sign up your free Gmail account.
Step 2. Configure Gmail to download your existing POP3 email.
Instructions on how to do this are here.
Step 3. Configure your email client to download from Gmail’s mail servers.
Instructions on how to do this are here and cover several mail clients, including but not limited to Apple Mail, Outlook Express, Outlook 2002/2003/2007 and others.
Recommended additional settings
Turn off your old mail server’s spam filters
The best way to have Gmail handle spam is to send all your mail to their service unfiltered. Their spam filters are good enough to where you can send everything “raw” and Gmail should catch most if not all of the spam and filter it appropriately.
Optionally turn off your client-side spam filters
It’s most likely true you use a combination of server-side and client-side spam filters. When using Gmail, using client-side spam filtering may actually get in the way and false-flag legitimate mail after it comes through Gmail’s servers and into your inbox.
If you don’t encounter any issues with false-flagged mail, then leave your client-side filters on. Otherwise turn them off if they present any issues.
Using Gmail’s SMTP servers are not required
Since you are only using Gmail as a spam filter, you can continue to use your existing SMTP server for your email service. This will keep your sending address the same along with the same mail-out servers you’ve been using right along.
If you’d rather use Gmail’s SMTP servers, you can do so and set your reply-to address to be your existing email address.
Quick questions answered
Will I have to periodically login to Gmail on the web to check the Spam?
Initially, yes. Gmail doesn’t “know” your contacts at all at this point and there will be a “training” period for the first few weeks you use the service.
If you encounter false-flags, simply create a filter within Gmail to never send it to spam for whatever email address you want “never flagged”:
Set up as many filters as you have to during the training period.
Will I lose any of my existing mail?
No. When using POP, all your mail remains in the client regardless of which mail service you use unless you specifically configured it not to physically download a copy of each email received. And if you did configure it that way, you would know it.
Will using Gmail’s servers present any problems sending/receiving email from those I communicate with regularly?
Unlikely. I say unlikely because there are some folks who have overly zealous email setups that fly up red flags whenever anything changes with a contact, and said flags would only happen if you are using Gmail’s outgoing SMTP server.
You will probably not encounter any issues when using Gmail’s SMTP save for when communicating with those that lock down their email clients like Fort Knox. If you believe there may be a problem, let those you communicate with know in advance you’re using Gmail’s servers so they can adjust their contact list appropriately.
Will my email’s speed change at all?
This all depends on how good or bad your previous mail servers were concerning server performance, however in most situations the speed of receiving mail will be the same and the speed of sending mail will be slightly slower – if using Gmail’s outgoing SMTP. This is because Gmail uses SSL connections for its mail servers. As such, some of you may encounter a slight delay while the secure connection establishes itself before sending the mail out.
If I don’t like using Gmail as my go-between, can I stop using it at any time?
Yes. All you have to do is login to your Gmail account on the web, disable the downloading of any future mail via POP3, then reconfigure your email client to the way it was before you setup Gmail.
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Good idea.
But…weren't you concerned about privacy when it comes to Google? Now you're recommending running all your email through them?
I'm just saying, I'm surprised at this article from you with no mention of the issue.
I think Rich's point with the other article is that Google isn't the only game in town and that there are choices. Doesn't mean you don't use Google.
Gmail happens to have awesome spam filtering, and as a person who uses Google quite a bit, I run all my email through Gmail.
(Damn those dedicated readers..)
My opinion on Goog privacy hasn't changed. Most people who use Gmail are aware of the creepy nature of the way Goog does things and are OK with it. I'm personally not.
Admittedly however, Gmail has the “least b.s.” way of using a major webmail provider as your spam filter.
Hotmail can do this process, and for free, but the relay time back to you is significantly slower. In addition I'm not sure exactly how well Hotmail works with applying spam filters to incoming POP-to-Hotmail before Hotmail-POP-back-to-you.
With Yahoo! you have to pay for the ability to download via POP (but strangely not receive into Y! from POP), however the problem is that the POP-receive action into Y! isn't automatic at all. You have to physically login to Y! Mail to have it check a POP account, which for this tutorial is worthless because it adds several extra steps.
The goal with this method of spam filtering is to have it be as automatic and speedy as possible. Gmail is the best choice. I don't like the company, but going about it any other way would prove to be inconvenient at best.
You're right on the spam filtering…I do use Gmail as my primary email, and I get almost zero spam there.
However, if someone doesn't trust Google, I don't see how they use this method at all. Maybe the convenience far outweighs any potential risk. And if that's what you're saying…well, then we have come full circle, haven't we?
FWIW, I am watching Google more suspiciously these days, since the rumored Verizon deal. If there's truth in it (which is not yet clear), then they've switched philosophically in one area, and could do the same in another. I still use them…but as you guys have pointed out, there are other options, if Google wants to push their luck.
The convenience does outweigh the risk if one wants to keep the same email address but wants better spam protection. Strictly speaking from an ease-of-setup point of view, Gmail has it nailed cold and I don't deny that. The only other webmail provider that even comes close is GMX (they offer both POP and IMAP just like Gmail does), but I have no idea how good or bad their spam filtering is.
If you really want a WTF moment concerning Goog, their CEO blasts out that anonymity should go away, yet they donated a sizeable sum to Tor Project (search for the world Google on that page) which goes directly against what their CEO just said. Goog's priorities change with the wind, I swear.
A new approach let’s you use Google Mail – but still keep your privacy in tact, by encrypting the sensitive portions of your email before sending them through GMAIL.
Just select the part of your email that you want to keep private, pick a keyword and encrypt that part. You still email as you do today, and Gmail isn’t affected since only regular keyboard characters are used for the encrypted results. But, only people who you’ve shared your keyword with can read the CLOAKed parts of your postings. Not even Google or its advertising partners know what you are emailing.
CloakGuard offers a free Firefox plugin as well as a free online version that does the encryption without requiring any software to be installed.
Free Plug-In Download —- https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/194385/
Free Online version —- http://cloakguard.com/tryitfree.php
Demo —- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSiKgesit4Q