MailGuard (Anti-Virus Mail Filtering) FAQ
MailGuard, what's that?
So how much risk do I have now?
How does it work?
How much trouble is it to setup?
Will my email address change?
Who can get it?
Where do I sign up?
What does it cost?

Residential MailGuard Configuration FAQ
What's been done so far?
Checking your mail before the final change
Activating the new mail feature
Changes to Outlook Express
Testing Your Change
A new WebMail URL
Who do I contact if I have trouble?

MailGuard Virtual Mail Domain
What are the features of Mail Guard?
How does MailGuard Work?
How Do I Configure my mail Clients?
How Do I use MailGuard WebMail?
How Do I Administrate my Mail Domain?
Who do I contact?
We decided to get it. What happens when we order Corporate Mail Guard?
What do we have to do on our end, if anything?
Is that all?
How can we be sure we got all of our mail and that nothing got left behind?

 

MailGuard (Anti-Virus Mail Filtering) FAQ

MailGuard, what's that?
MailGuard is an Email Anti-Virus Filtering system designed to stop Email Viruses and other potential harmful email attachments from reaching your PC.

So how much risk do I have now?
According to recent reports, over 95% of all computer viruses are delivered in some shape or form via electronic mail. Most commonly, anti-virus solutions are installed on your local PC and are dependent on the user BOTH properly configuring the product AND updating the product weekly if not daily. Even if configured correctly, one slip in applying updates can leave a computer completely vulnerable. MailGuard is designed to eliminate this weakness with a more comprehensive approach. That approach is simply to stop the virus BEFORE it reaches you.

Now, like its biological counterpart, computer viruses are constantly changing. Just like the flu, someone has to get it before a vaccine can be developed. Unlike the flu, which may take months to identify and develop a vaccine for, computer viruses are normally detected and screened within hours. Be aware that if you are the first user to encounter a new strain of computer virus, it more than likely will infect your computer. Given the millions of Internet users, the likelihood of you receiving the first of a new strain of a computer virus is very remote.

To date there is no 100% solution for email virus protection.

How does it work?
MailGuard works by forwarding your @intrstar.net email address to the new MailGuard Mail Server. Instead of sending and receiving your email through the standard InterStar mail server; you will need to retrieve mail, send mail and administer your account using the MailGuard server.

How much trouble is it to setup?
Very little trouble at all. Setup is composed of (2) stages.

In Stage 1,You will need to contact a InterStar customer service representative to place an order for the service. Once you have placed the order, you will receive an email explaining how to make the necessary changes.
 

In Stage 2 of the setup process, you will make changes to your POP3 and SMTP settings in your mail client software (typically Outlook Express). The final step consists of an online web form that will allow you to forward your email address to the new MailGuard server.

That's it.

Don't worry though; most users are able to perform all the changes in about 10 minutes. Should you have any difficulty our support technicians are able to assist. Call 1-877-269-8236 or email support@intrstar.net or consult our Mail Guard set-up FAQ.

Will my email address change?
No, just the location you pick up your mail from. Typically, InterStar customers retreived their mail from the server called mail.intrstar.net and use InterStar's standard VOP WebMail. After you subscribe to the new service, you will pickup your mail from the server called filter.intrstar.net and use the new MailGuard Webmail.

Who can get it?
Residential MailGuard is available to all InterStar customers with an @intrstar.net email address. Those users with virtual email domains ( @mydomain.com) should contact our business office for more information about our Corporate MailGuard service.

Where do I sign up?
You can contact any InterStar or Star Telephone customer service representative at (910) 564-4638, (800) 840-1113, or sales@intrstar.net.

What does it cost?
Pricing can be found on InterStar's Service's page at http://www.intrstar.net/service.html

 

Residential MailGuard Configuration FAQ

What's been done so far?
This FAQ was designed for customer's which have already purchased the InterStar Residential MailGuard service. By the time you read this FAQ,

  • You should have completed payment for the service
  • You should have received an email acknowledging Stage 1 setup of the service
  • You are ready to complete the setup of MailGuard

Checking your mail before the final change
(This will need to be performed for EACH email address using MailGuard)

Since all of your email will soon be forwarded to your new MailGuard account, you will need to check your email one last time before you make the changes. 

Please note,  if you use Silky Mail (InterStar Webmail) to check your mail, you will need to print your email to save it or configure Outlook Express to retrieve your email from the server .

Activating the new mail feature
(This will need to be performed for EACH email address using MailGuard)

Now it's time to activate MailGuard by having InterStar's email server forward all your email to the MailGuard system.

 
 

NOTE: As soon as your confirmation
letter is sent the forward on your 
new mail will be in place. Mail will 
now be delivered to Mail Guard. 

To receive mail, configuration changes
(described below) must be completed.
If you have any problems contact us
using one of the methods described here.

Changes to Outlook Express
(This will need to be performed for EACH email address using MailGuard)

Your settings in Outlook Express will need to be changed to reflect a new POP3 and SMTP server. The new setting for these will be filter.intrstar.net

These changes can be made by...

  1. Start Outlook Express by double clicking it.
  2. On the tool bar at the top, click on TOOLS.
  3. From the list click on ACCOUNTS
  4. Click on the tab labeled MAIL
  5. Select your mail account from the list by double clicking on it. This will bring up the account properties
  6. Click on the SERVERS tab.
  7. Change the "Incoming mail (POP3)" field to filter.intrstar.net
  8. Change the "Outgoing mail (SMTP)" field to filter.intrstar.net
  9. Click APPLY and OK
  10. Click CLOSE

How to retrieve mail from virtual domains properly
(including filter.intrstar.net)

Email domains are normally assigned an IP address for the domain, and the user retrieves the Email by connecting to the IP of the domain. There is no way for the mail server to "confuse" this user with a user of the same name in a different domain.

With virtual email domains the basic problem stems from the fact that a Virtual domain is not bound to an IP address. Since you can have username1@domain1.com and username1@domain2.com and both use the same IP there is no way to tell them apart.

The solution is to include the domain with the username. 


With	Outlook
Outlook Express
	Pegasus
	and most other mail clients
In the sections where one defines the username and password, 
	instead of using the following:

		Username = yourname

	You would use:

		Username = yourname@virtual.domain.com
		ie;       customer@filter.intrstar.net
		or        customer@customersdomain.com

With	Netscape Mail
Netscape Mail unfortunately strips anything after an @ sign. So to fool it, you have to use yourname%virtualdomain.com. Modus will interpret the percentage (%) sign the same way as an (@) sign, but Netscape Mail will consider it as part of the whole username, thus fooling it.
Note that you can use the (%) sign with all the other mail clients mentioned above, and it will still work. So you can use the user%domain.com at all times if you like. The only exception is Eudora. 
		Username = yourname%virtual.domain.com
		ie;       customer%filter.intrstar.net
		or        customer%customersdomain.com

With	Eudora
	Eudora Light

Eudora Light is a special case because it asks for the "POP3 Account" and wants the whole POP3 address right away. This works fine for email domains with IP addresses, but it doesn't work at all for virtual email domains.
Example:Put yourname%domain.com@filter.intrstar.net instead.

ie; customer%filter.intrstar.net@filter.intrstar.net

or customer%customersdomain.com@filter.intrstar.net

What happens is Eudora will use what's after the @ sign and use it as the reference to access the server. Then, it'll pass the whole yourname%virtual.domain.com as the username. 

 

 

Testing Your Change
(This will need to be performed for EACH email address using MailGuard)

To test your changes, exchange some email with a friend. You should be able both to send and receive email.

A new WebMail URL
As a new MailGuard customer, you will have access to the MailGuard WebMail interface. You can access this from the following URL http://vmx1.intrstar.net/webmail/Login.asp?AutoLogon=no  This software provides a comprehensive online HELP system. Please use the HELP button on the web page for further information on how to use the MailGuard WebMail interface..

Please be aware: When you login use your email address, not just your login name.

  NOT LIKE THIS LIKE THIS INSTEAD
(Example) MyName MyName@My.Domain
(Domain-name Mail Guard users) charley charley@redcompanysales.com
(InterStar Mail Guard users) carol carol@filter.intrstar.net

Netscape Mail and Eudora users see gray box above.

Who do I contact if I have trouble?
Please don't hesitate to call if you have trouble configuring MailGuard. We have someone on staff Mon-Thur from 12:00 noon till 9pm to assist you with your configuration. If you need assistance, please contact our main office at support@intrstar.net or call 1-877-269-8236 and ask to schedule a time for a technician to call and assist you.

 

MailGuard Virtual Mail Domain

What are the features of Mail Guard?

  • Anti-Virus email scanning on both in-bound and out-bound mail.
  • Unique email addresses (postmaster@mydomain.com, sales@mydomain.com , support@mydomina.com, etc.)
  • Ability to administrate your own email addresses (add, modify, delete, forward)
  • Ability to create Domain Rules for processing mail
  • Per Email address Auto-responders
  • Per Email address mail forwarding
How does MailGuard Work?

MailGuard for Virtual Mail Domains is a combination of both a high end mail system and a commercial grade anti-virus email scanning engine.

As messages are transferred to you mail system from the Internet and your individual users, each mail message is scanned for potential viruses. As viruses are detected, they are deleted by the server and forwarded on to the destination email address with a note explaining the virus detection and its subsequent deletion. This happens for both in-bound and out-bound messages.

How Do I Configure my mail Clients?
For all mail clients, please use the following settings. (Substituting your domain name for mydomain.com)
	SMTP Server: mail.mydomain.com
	       POP3: mail.mydomain.com

How Do I use MailGuard WebMail?
MailGuard customer's have access to any enhanced WebMail interface which includes such features as on-line spell checking. An extensive on-line help system exists and will answer the majority of operation questions.

How Do I Administrate my Mail Domain?
Administration of your mail domain is typically handled from a special account called the POSTMASTER. This account has special privileges when logged onto the MailGuard WebMail interface. Once logged on the POSTMASTER has the ability to Add, Modify, and Delete email accounts, enter special domain processing rules for mail handling, and specify vacation messages as well as auto-responders. A extensive on-line help exists to assist the POSTMASTER .

Please don't hesitate to call if you would like a demonstration.

Who do I contact? I'd like to see a demonstration or talk to a sales representative.
Please feel free to contact the InterStar business office at 800-840-1113 and ask for Barbara Daniels in the Corporate Customer Service Department or send email to sales@intrstar.net. We'll be happy to setup a demo and explain the feature further.

We decided to get it. What happens when we order Corporate Mail Guard?
First we will prep everything on this end and there will be some things you the customer will have to do as well (all the mail boxes in your domain must be protected under one umbrella).

What do we have to do on our end, if anything?
While we are setting your email domain up on the new mail server we will send you a configuration sheet and ask that you check the configuration settings on your email clients. In the past there were many ways to configure your email clients, but with the improved security it's necessary to be sure that pop3 points to your domain and that SMTP points to mail.yourdomain. It's very quick and easy to do and ensures that all the email clients are looking at the right place for mail.

Is that all?
After you have checked your email clients just let us know and we can set up a date to switch things over, like at the beginning of a weekend. Your users don't have to do a thing except check their old email boxes afterwards to be sure that mail didn't get delivered during the transition (which takes only a matter of minutes.)

How can we be sure we got all of our mail and that nothing got left behind?
We will give you a special place to check for any old mail for 30 days. You only need to do that once, at your user's convenience.

Have a Question not on the List?
Send your question to faqs@intrstar.net