iBoss Hardware/Network Based Filtering

[codyhilton]

I'm new to this forum and find the "Family Safety" section very helpful, thank you all. I have read almost all the threads on filtering but haven't been able to find any information of one particular product.

In my HP group meeting one brother mentioned he uses iBoss Home (http://www.ibosswebfilters.com/residential.html). It is a wireless N router/4-port switch with built-in parental controls. The device sits between the modem and the home network.

I realize iboss is a commercial product (although it runs on Linux) so maybe talking about non-free/opensource here is bad manners. The fact no one has mentioned it surprises me as it's been around for at least 3 years. Maybe that fact is a red flag.

However I'm very interested in knowing what people think of it, particularly those who have hands-on experience. The reviews I've read (CNET) say the hardware it self isn't the best (wireless range, transfer rates, etc) but the parental controls are excellent.

The device is $50 and requires a $60/year subscription. With all the talk about using untangle, opendns, homemade firewalls, "Mormon ITX", dansguardian, dd-wrt, etc. this seems like arguably the best way for a non-techie home user to provide network based protection.

Here is a comparison of iBoss and OpenDNS: http://www.ibosswebfilters.com/ibh_prod ... rison.html

[Mikerowaved]

Welcome to the forum! It appears no one here has an opinion or experience with the iboss product. Personally, I would not purchase a hardware based filtering solution, since technology tends to change at a very rapid pace. My fear is it would soon be outdated, even with occasional firmware updates. With a software solution, you are far more flexible in switching filtering products as the technology evolves or the family situation changes.

For example, Windows 7 ships with some basic localized parental controls, but no internet content filtering. However, recently introduced was the free Windows Live Family Safety 2011, which enhances the parental controls in Windows 7 to include content filtering and reporting. I haven't played with it yet so I don't know how effective and user friendly it is, but I just use that as an example.

I have played with the free K9 Web Protection program and highly recommend it to parents in my area wishing to filter their family's internet. IMO, K9 and OpenDNS are the best free solutions around.