Web Filtering & Report Services for Small Primary School

[Scorpio]

Hi

 

We are about to upgrade a small schools filtering where its just not adequate enough, and they want to bring it up to standards, we looked at hardware but it was too expensive for them, we need something that will filter and report all the computers, laptops, chromebooks and other mobile devices, looking at some cloud based services, there is a few to choose from each with different application, some tie into google, some are agents.

 

I have a short list based on what i was looking at a while back but revisiting this now and wish to see which everyone uses or recommends that will meet the standard and cover all devices, preferable with device license and not users license but depends on costs too.

 

Cheers

 

S

[mikeprice]

I had this problem in the primary school where I used to work - they used the LAs filtering - which worked OK - but there was no way to update it quickly, it neeeded a phone call to the support group after which they woudd update when they could - 2-3 days at times

also there was no reporting of any kind - no alerts were ever sent even when several test searches were tried (with witnesses) just to see

when we had an incident of a kid being seen searching for 'naked women' they could not produce a report of what he had been doing for several days - and then it didn't show whole picture for some reason

 

In my opinion this fell well short of the requirements - I was looking at installing Censornet on site but I could never get clearance from the Head - then I left aand I suspect that they are still using that system. They are now in special measure but no mention was made in the report of filtering etc

 

I will be interested to see what people come up with

[ADMaster]

I am testing Securly on Chromebooks which is free by the way.

They also have DNS filtering and PAC files to cover your other devices. I don't know anything about them in practice yet. Other devices are not part of the free package though.

They do appear to comply with GDPR too.

https://support.securly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005144334-Does-Securly-comply-with-GDPR-

[Scorpio]

We have Securly, iBoss and LightSpeed Relay 2.0 on our list, with the latter looking more favourable atm, iBoss looked like they wasnt interested in small numbers..... My understanding with Securly is it need to have everyone on Google as it works around that ? Dont think it works with AD, it may now work with Azure? Initially when we looked it was just Google.

 

Looking at what happens to devices without any agents etc, i.e. BYOD as well, although this isnt as important and it usually is Staff guest devices such as phones, but still need to see what options are available.

 

Everyone input is appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

S

Edited February 9, 2019 by Scorpio

[Wave9_Lee]

We have Securly, iBoss and LightSpeed Relay 2.0 on our list, with the latter looking more favourable atm, iBoss looked like they wasnt interested in small numbers..... My understanding with Securly is it need to have everyone on Google as it works around that ? Dont think it works with AD, it may now work with Azure? Initially when we looked it was just Google.

 

Looking at what happens to devices without any agents etc, i.e. BYOD as well, although this isnt as important and it usually is Staff guest devices such as phones, but still need to see what options are available.

 

Everyone input is appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

S

 

Hi Scorpio

 

You could look at Sophos - It's cost-effective for primary schools (we find) , compliant and fully featured,

 

cheers

[Net-Ctrl]

We would recommend looking at eSafety4schools. They're the iboss specialist for Primary schools. We have used them for a number of our sites who are really happy with their service. It's a perfect solution for smaller counts. If you would like some more information, please let me know

[Scorpio]

Hi

 

We looked at Sophos, and it was too much for this school the software / cloud based filters are way less for lower numbers of devices. Iboss dint want to know with the small numbers and worked out expensive.

 

Looking to use Lightspeed Relay, seems to tick all the boxes and the prices is much better than hardware and some of the other software.

 

Anyone using Lightspeed Relay ?

 

Thanks

 

S

[Net-Ctrl]

Hi

Iboss dint want to know with the small numbers and worked out expensive.

 

This is exactly why we have found eSafety4schools to be ideal for smaller sites. They use iboss technology, so you know you're getting great technology, but their solution is aimed at the Primary School market.

[Wave9_Lee]

Hi

 

We looked at Sophos, and it was too much for this school the software / cloud based filters are way less for lower numbers of devices. Iboss dint want to know with the small numbers and worked out expensive.

 

Looking to use Lightspeed Relay, seems to tick all the boxes and the prices is much better than hardware and some of the other software.

Anyone using Lightspeed Relay ?

 

Thanks

S

 

HI Scorpio

 

not sure where you have your pricing from, but we are generally pretty cheap for small schools - it's an area where we are pretty successful, and with all the extra features (advanced firewall, routing, VPN, AV etc) that comes included it can be attractive.

 

cheers

[XiJ]

10 of our (primary) schools use Studysafe

[Scorpio]

We already have the connection, just need the filtering, I think we will eventually try Lightspeed Relay once the school confirms. Thanks for the replies, but keep ideas and reviews coming, especially on the Lightspeed for those who have used the relay product.

 

Thanks

 

S

[Ditto]

@ADMaster mentioned Securly earlier in the thread. I think it is worth a look. I can confirm it was used with success and easily deployed in an all-though school, Reception to Year 11. We were mostly (95+%) linked to Chromebooks and GSuite and relied on a Chrome extension, so you'd need to check it holds up for non-Chrome use on a Windows/Apple/Mobile platform.

[owen1978]

We already have the connection, just need the filtering, I think we will eventually try Lightspeed Relay once the school confirms. Thanks for the replies, but keep ideas and reviews coming, especially on the Lightspeed for those who have used the relay product.

 

Thanks

 

S

 

Hi,

 

I work in a primary and we moved our ISP and Filtering.

 

We use...

 

https://www.opendium.com/

 

All I can say that it is great!

 

We had an onsite hardware device installed, and it just works!

UK Company, always get through to someone to help.

 

There have some great reporting features, my faves are the word cloud and the image report which display images that users have been viewing

 

Can't say enough

[Ditto]

How does it compare cost wise to what you had and any competitors you looked at?

[owen1978]

How does it compare cost wise to what you had and any competitors you looked at?

 

Its a bit more expensive but I think having a separate firewall ISP gives us to chop and change in the future.

 

If you drop me a pm with your email address, I can fire over the proposal I put forward to the head, its got all the costings on it

[Blue_Cookeh]

Hi

 

We looked at Sophos, and it was too much for this school the software / cloud based filters are way less for lower numbers of devices. Iboss dint want to know with the small numbers and worked out expensive.

 

Looking to use Lightspeed Relay, seems to tick all the boxes and the prices is much better than hardware and some of the other software.

 

Anyone using Lightspeed Relay ?

 

Thanks

 

S

 

We had an unlimited IP license for Sophos UTM/XG (we had a hardware appliance) with filtering/IPS/IDS/AV etc for <£900 a year in our primary.

[Scorpio]

Sophos Hardware and license was over £2000, did you have yours subsided by the local authority, this is a private school so no support that side.?

[Wave9_Lee]

Hi Scorpio,

 

Our service for a managed service with Sophos XG and licence, with inclusive support starts at £650/annum for a small school. Happy to provide a quote if it's of interest.

[Scorpio]

Hi Scorpio,

 

Our service for a managed service with Sophos XG and licence, with inclusive support starts at £650/annum for a small school. Happy to provide a quote if it's of interest.

 

School has wireless broadband as no decent cable or fibre options, please PM a quote for this if its possible, thanks.

[Brimstone]

We already have the connection, just need the filtering, I think we will eventually try Lightspeed Relay once the school confirms. Thanks for the replies, but keep ideas and reviews coming, especially on the Lightspeed for those who have used the relay product.

 

Thanks

 

S

I have 2 schools using Relay, really easy to configure, requires no hardware, proxies etc. Both schools are 1:1 with iPads that go home so they are filtered wherever they are. No complex Global Proxy to configure either.

 

https://help.relay.school/?q=relay+features+os

[Securly_Marc]

Hey Scorpio,

 

You don't need to have everybody on Google to be able to work with Securly and we do work with AD!

 

Give me a shout if you have any more questions!

 

Cheers,

 

Marc

[Slum90]

Have a look at Censornet USS. You can use it as a gateway or agent. I did a full setup for a client using the agent. It can connect to AD or if you don't want it to then it doesn't have to.

The agent is lightweight and quick when responding to requests

[TDupont992]

I've had good experiences with RM SafetyNet included in their broadband but I know it's also available as standalone, SafetyNet can be between ~£500-£900 depending on how small your primary is I think. I'd say it's worth looking into. Lightspeed Relay 2.0 is of course a good service as well

[ictgoodpractice]

What speed do you have from ISP. Is 70mbps slow for a small primary. 30 machines using internet.

 

Thanks if you can help

 

 

Hi,

 

I work in a primary and we moved our ISP and Filtering.

 

We use...

 

https://www.opendium.com/

 

All I can say that it is great!

 

We had an onsite hardware device installed, and it just works!

UK Company, always get through to someone to help.

 

There have some great reporting features, my faves are the word cloud and the image report which display images that users have been viewing

 

Can't say enough

[mavhc]

What firewall do you currently have?