Alternative to RM SafetyNetUniversal needed

[MK-2]

Since our CC4 install we've had the RM safetynetuniversal filtering put in. I'm not happy with it at all, and we dont seem to be 100% in control of the filtering.

I'm after an alternative that can do group based filtering (students get one, staff get another sort of thing) based on AD, and gives us complete control over content/extension and such filtering.

 

I'd also like one that didn't only operate the whitelist, where we have to allow every site visited. I'd like one that allows sites but uses known blacklists and content filtering but still lets us unblock any pages visited ourself rather than having to contact someone else.

 

I know there are a whole host of filtering software packages available, I'm just after ones that people have used and can recommend that I can research into.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[HodgeHi]

I think the school guardian does what you need.

 

Maybe there is a possibility of a trial so you can check what you want is available

[CyberNerd]

Another vote for Smoothwall School Guardian. We ditched RM filtering and haven't looked back.

[MK-2]

Another vote for Smoothwall School Guardian. We ditched RM filtering and haven't looked back.

 

Was it RM ISP filtering or the RM safetynet filtering?

 

The annoying thing is, it has blocked the wikipedia result page for Bond. It says content filtering, which I can only assume is because it has related terms of Bondage and Julia Bond Porn Star at the bottom.

I cannot edit the content filtering, so would have to email rm to get it unblocked. That's one search page on wikipedia. so multiply that by however many pages exist on wikipedia that may have a bad word on, and then multiply that by any search engine! And I'm expected to email them every time this occurs?

Their filtering doesn't seem to be thought through. Have a staff policy which can't be edited, so if you want to add a website thats being blocked, you need to create a new staff policy, add the website to that, then link that one to the first staff policy. It's like a 50/50 control between school and RM!

 

Will look into SchoolGuardian. Is there any pricing available or are different setups different costs?

Is SchoolGuardian hardware or software, as we have an ISA box that I can't move, so it would need to work alongside that, not in place of it.

 

Thanks

[HodgeHi]

We have the Safety Net filtering on our line and it sounds like its just as bad. At one point we couldn't download tux paint as sourceforge was blocked. Then we had the boss having a furniture site blocked. He was trying to find some quotes for desks and tables. He was stunned to see it blocked for porn

[HodgeHi]

School guardian can be either hardware or software i think. I had the software which you download as a iso and then either burn to a cd for install or mount and install in a virtual machine.

 

I'm not too sure about the hardware side though.

 

It's not that bad cost-wise especially when you factor in the excellent support as well. Almost pays for itself.

[MK-2]

It's not that bad cost-wise especially when you factor in the excellent support as well. Almost pays for itself.

 

 

Can you give me a rough estimate so I can compare with the RM one. I'd need to be able to offset what we pay now against any new costs so that we aren't paying too much more

[HodgeHi]

You would be better off speaking to Smoothwall for a cost since they would be able to give you an accurate cost since it is based on the total amount of concurrent connections to the filtering system.

 

But as a guide i have 60 licenses and it costs us around 650 per year. This i think includes support and updates.

[Butuz]

I have a smartcache2 with safteynet universal and I can unblock sites or keywords by by going into the filtering tab?

 

Butuz

[MK-2]

I have a smartcache2 with safteynet universal and I can unblock sites or keywords by by going into the filtering tab?

 

Butuz

 

Can you edit the content filtering? As per my example I am having pages within wikipedia blocked due to "content filtering" but I'm not being told what the content is. It's kind of hard to unblock keywords when you don't know what keyword is being blocked or see a list of currently blocked keywords.

The site itself (wikipedia.org) is already allowed, so there's no point unblocking the site or creating a new policy as its the content part that is stopping me, which RM support have said I would need to email them with the URL for them to unblock. This to me isn't us in control of the filtering, its partly us partly them

[cookie_monster]

It might be worth taking a look at this thread and if you like what you see giving them a call, they're a friendly bunch and the sales staf really aren't pushy at all. They can even sort you an eval box answer any questions and give you an online demo of features.

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/internet-related-filtering-firewall/32188-smoothwall-network-guardian-negatives.html

 

NOTE: There really aren't many negatives