MemeCode - Blog

POP over HTTP

Date: 3/8/2004

If you not already aware of Scribe's POP over HTTP protocol then it's a way of routing POP traffic over the web so that if you stuck behind a firewall that only allows web traffic you can still get your email. The only downside that you need a PHP server somewhere to host the script that bundles the POP mailbox data into webpages. Although it doesn't have to be on the same server as the POP account, it works so much better if it is on the same server. The reason why is latency. When the script is loaded on to the same machine as the POP account it runs really fast, so much so that your entire mailbox downloads in about a 10th of the time it normally takes. Thats because the POP protocol is not designed for laggy connections and POP over HTTP removes almost all the lag by batching commands and responses together.

Anyway considering that it's not easy for everyone to host a script somewhere, I am considering setting up a service that does just POP over HTTP. You'd get a mailbox on a server that allows you access using POP or the POP over HTTP protocol. You'd have to change your email address but for some people that'd be worth it. There aren't any insurmountable technical issues. So it'd be just a matter of setting up a domain and writing some PHP glue code to setup and configure accounts. I think I would probably have a free account with a small mailbox size, say a few MB and a commercial account with more MB's and maybe other features like virus removal or whatever. As for pricing I'm thinking maybe $5/yr. But I'd have to do some figures to make sure that is sustainable.

What do you think? Is it worth setting up? Is there enough interest?

Comments:

Michael
08/08/2004 8:50am

yes please do !

Matthew Allen
08/08/2004 11:42am

Well, there'll need to be more than one interested person. :)

jezzy
05/09/2004 12:01pm

I would be very interested in this. I have been looking for a way to access email from anywhere, other than using web-based mail. I would image this would be popular to people who want to access there pop mail from internet cafes and libraries etc.

Regards. Jezzy

Jezzy
06/09/2004 8:55am

Also people who do paid email would benefit from Scribe and Pop over HTML as it would be quicker and obtainable from any computer, as compared to web-based mail.

Marek
08/10/2004 6:39am

Its a good idea ...
:)

fret
08/10/2004 10:30am

PopOverHttp.com ;)

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