Good idea, poor serrvice
Written: Feb 22 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Connection Reliability: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Good idea
Cons: Service is horrible, surf times are very poor
|
|
|
| freetheweb's Full Review: Freensafe |
I would have to first say that the idea is great, server based filtering, national access, free service, etc. But I would have to say that the lack of service since the end of January has gotten to the point that this service is no longer an option. The friends that I have sent to the sign-up page are not even able to access it 75% of the time, and e-mail flat out doesn't work anymore. Tech support is another issue, first of all you must dial long distance, they never answer or return calls, nor do they respond to email questions anymore. Another issue is the slow surf speeds.
I can connect consistently at a good modem speed (fast authorization), but the filter server is usually so-slow that I really can't get anywhere. They claim on their home page that they have some type of proprietary filtering technology. A quick nslookup or ping will reveal that they have two filter servers configured for "round-robin" DNS (poor-man's load balancing). You can't really tell where the servers are located but they must not have fast connections. My guess is they are also using another companies filter software such as N2H2 (big in schools), SurfWatch, etc.
The download and software is really good and easy to install ("hands-free" web based installation), the persistent ad-banner is small but featureless compared to their competitors. I tried the software out in early December of last year, it was at that time very restrictive. They have fixed all of the "big-brother" issues with their current version.
I really wish that they would get their act together before someone else comes along that can pull it off better. I would really like to support them, but the service simply stinks. Until they get it fixed, I will use another service.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
freetheweb
|
|
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.