Open Source WebMail: http://atmail.org

Incoming spam filters are rudimentary. We advise our users to run their own spam filters locally. You have some basic control over the filtering, but it is pretty much a default out of the box installation of a basic product that is rarely maintained.

That’s not to say that the product FH use is not a good one, but it’s the *way* it’s used that is exasperating. It’s a basic nod to spam filtering.

Also, what is the situation with incoming spam emails at FH? Do customers see a lot of spam in their mailboxes or is spam filtered?

Interested party.

Interestingly, the screenshot shown in this post was taken after logging into the service last night. For some strange reason (can’t think why), when I logged into the same account this evening, the Fasthosts logo had been removed and replaced with the generic logo seen today. Funny that!

Also, you mention the Mailbox quota appearing on the webmail front page? I hold my hands up to this – the quota only appears when there is something in the folders. This is a feature of the software itself, and nothing to do with Fasthosts.

Sent Items. You’re taking an interesting standpoint here if you really do have clients hosted on FH. Between myself and my colleagues, we have had more than 1000 email accounts hosted on FH, and of that 1000, more than half have complained bitterly that this feature was missing. Of those who complained, most eventually moved away to other hosts who considered their sent email to be more important than the spam they recieve.

Sure Heart Internet has problems too, but we are not here to criticise Heart or any other host. This forum is a rage against the FH machine. As it happens, we have a reseller account with Heart (among others), and the Linux/Open Source platform is what makes infinitely better than Fasthosts. If you think that makes it ‘packed with security exploits’, you should realise that each and every one of those packages is also hosted on Fasthosts by the customers themselves.

I’m not sure what you mean by a ‘Full service with Windows’…? Windows is infinitely less suited as an internet server than any flavour of *nix, and considerably less secure. The only reason FH boast Windows as their flagship platform is that they can rack a Windows server cheaper than they can Linux.

Does Heart do Exchange – no, and I hope they never do. But if you want Exchange, why would you go to Fasthosts? For £1.50 less than Fasthosts price you can host a fully-featured Exchange account, with full access to the GAL, integrated Sharepoint and 1GB of space, which is more than enough for Exchange.

And the cost model breaks down even quicker when you realise that if you need more than 10 Fasthost echange mailboxes (£1200pa), you may as well buy an entry level SBBS server from Dell and host it on a Home Broadband connection. This will pay for itself within 2 years and give you far more features/flexibity. Sure, you have to look after it, but you’re a skilled reseller right?

Why do we still have Fasthosts accounts? Who says we do, numpty. We have *access* to Fasthosts standard and reseller accounts, because we have to maintain these on behalf of our customers. We haven’t owned a FH account on our own book for quite some time..

Did you spend much time looking at the new Webmail Beta before writing this post? About this matter specifically, you’re giving FH a rough ride without checking your facts.

You don’t have to pay to remove FH branding – just access it using any domain on your reseller account and you’ll get an unbranded version, or branded if you’ve chosen to go the full hog. This is made perfectly clear. If I remember rightly from when I was choosing a web host for multi-domains, Heart’s implementation lets you brand the login page only.

Mailbox quota usage is displayed on the Start page once you’ve logged in – so your comments about FH not knowing how to make it work are also incorrect.

Sent mail – okay so it’s been a long time coming, but it’s here now so let’s all breathe a sigh of relief and tell our clients.

Life’s not all rosy at Heart Internet by the sounds of things. Only this week they scrambled passwords and then emailed new passwords to the wrong customers, or something like that. Check The Register for more details. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/24/heart_internet_password_gaffe/

Heart only offer Linux with free opensource features that are packed with known security exploits. FH at least offer a full service with Windows. Where’s the Hosted Exchange from Heart? Nope, just basic mail.

And of course the million dollar question… Why oh why oh do you still have an account with FH if you’re so uptight about their service? It’s not that difficult to move, and arguably would have been quicker than putting this blog together.