Customer Reviews

D-Link DSD-150 SecureSpot Internet Security Adapter

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

This little guy is doing exactly as promised. I'm mainly using it for the parental controls, as it allows me to regulate access from any pc on my network without having to install *any* software on the computers (to get the antivirus and I think the popup blocker you need to install the the thin client, but for the firewall, parental control and I think some of the other things you don't need to install *anything* - note that they don't tell you this straight out, but if you look through DLink's support pages, it's all there).

I can't confirm the problems with tech support below, I had a problem where my unit wasn't updating - I emailed tech support and got a phone call (!!) back the next day. I spent about an hour on the phone with some very knowledgeable guy who was most assuredly American and we eventually got things sorted out (I know this is unusual, I figure I got lucky here).

Note that the 4 pc limit is for machines that you want to configure individually; if you set "client security" to low, you get the parental controls & firewall for as many PCs as your network can handle (each PC then defaults to your "local network profile") There are other (free) hardware or software solutions for firewalls, but having the parental stuff w/o having to install & configure a software package on each machine is *majorly* cool. There are four desktops and multiple laptops hanging around my house, this way I know that nobody's going to get any surfing surprises on any of the machines.

Four stars instead of five because the parental stuff is pretty aggressive, I've had to spend a lot of time fine tuning it. But I suppose that's better than the opposite.

The concept of not having to futz with antivirus apps and firewall settings and updates and subscriptions etc etc for every PC in your house is very appealing to me. Unburden your PCs, let this box be the police for your system.. So understand that I -want- this box to be a success.

Yes, it has some rough edges. D-Link IS actively issuing firmware updates, and yes, it does block pop ups, known advertising sources, it does a great job of filtering what types of websites and files you wish to be available, and yes, it does permit specific port allow/block options.

So it does a lot of good things. There IS a learning curve; if you want just to plug it in and go, well, you'll be disappointed. But I love my little black gizmo, knowing that it's on duty, it controls which PCs can access the web (and what they can do) and at what time(s) of day. And it does have antivirus etc to help ward off the bad guys.

Its not perfect, but I'm willing to work with Dlink to see it get even better. For now, I have to say, it's doing what I expected, but some glitches in the user interface are a nuisance.. and those issues seem to be being worked on by Dlink.

By the way -- I've had nothing but excellent support from their live 'chat-room' type of tech support.. a nice change from so many other places where they do all they can to prevent you from reaching tech support.

I like this box. It ain't perfect.. but its evolving, and while I'm pleased with it today, I'm expecting to be very happy with it as some of the rough edges are fixed. If you have no patience, don't buy it... yet. Otherwise, it'll help those who don't mind dinking with settings in their fight to control the internet addiction of our kids!

Let me start by saying that I am a father of two very Internet savvy kids. I purchased the DLink Securespot from my local CompUSA on July 17, 2006. As of today I have had it up and running for about 4 weeks with my SBC/AT&T DSL service. I love it! It was easy to install and it performs as advertised. The support teams have been terrific, as I have made a few requests for future updates that they are considering.

I think every responsible parent should buy this product immediately, regardless of your computer knowledge. So many families are unaware of how to actually protect their kids from the ugliness of the Internet. In many cases the kids actually know more about the computer than the parents. The DLink Securespot is a simple to use yet powerful solution for protecting your family. What a true blessing. Thank you DLink and Bsecure! ***** FIVE STARS *****

Background: About 5 years ago I realized that I was going to have to work very hard to protect my kids as the Internet was beginning to show its ugly side. The good stuff was great, but the X-Rated stuff had to be blocked. I originally purchased a hardware router appliance that offered a limited number of IP addresses and provided a content filter that had an annual subscription fee. It worked well with one or two PC's, but then I bought more PC's and a couple of DVRs that needed to get to the Internet for weekly TV listing updates. Because I now have (4) PC's and (2) DVRs and a Slingbox (nifty TV thing) and a Wireless AP, I ran out of IP addresses. I constantly had to dump IP addresses and reboot the router. That went on for about 2 years. I hated it, but I had no other alternative. There was no other "Hardware" solution on the market that offered content filtering the way we had become accustomed. Not to mention the hassle of having to update the Virus Software on (4) machines. Over the years I had purchased McAfee twice, but couldn't justify the annual subscriptions for (4) machines. I had turned to AVG for virus protection. It was fine, but all of my machines had infections in the vault that I couldn't remove. That doesn't include the Adware, SpyBot and Spyware Doctor apps that I had to run constantly to keep all (4) machines running. I didn't have the time to keep up. I was drowning in upkeep.

The Scoop: The product out of the box will cover up to (4) machines for 1yr, more precisely (4) MAC addresses. This means that the hardware and all of the software updates are free for 1yr. The subscription after the first year to cover (4) machines is approx $80.00 per/year. Additional systems beyond the standard (4) can be purchased too. To cover (4) machines on the Virus Protection alone for 1yr is a bargain, the rest is gravy.

The Best Features: The Virus Protection software is up and running on all (4) systems and they are all updated regularly with little to no personal interaction. I tend to tinker with it manually to make sure it's working. I'm beginning to relax now that it has proven itself. The Content Filtering is extremely powerful and yet very flexible. The options listing for the content filtering is a lot more detailed than the product that I had before. The Reporting feature is probably one of the best things about the whole product. I have the ability to login to a secure website from home or work or anywhere, and see what sites have been visited and how many times. There is also an optional limit to how many times a site can be blocked before the machine has to be rebooted. There is also a parental password override for any blocked site, so if a site is blocked you can enter the bypass password and the site will come right up. The Spam blocking seems to be working very well as I get no more SPAM in my Outlook - No SPAM is a very good thing. The Spyware (Immunizing) needs some work, but I'm confident that future updates will resolve these deficiencies soon.

Installation Tips: Out of the box you'll need to go to the DLink website and download the latest Firmware update. Install the Firmware Update right away. Do not proceed with the installation instructions until after this has been successfully accomplished. If you have a wireless router already you'll be in great shape, but if you don't already have a newer model, I would recommend the DLink DI-634M Wireless 108G MIMO router. This will cover your home needs perfectly. I only had an Access Point before and had to buy a new router to complete the installation. I was initially a little disappointed with the added expense, but the newer technology has increased my coverage area tremendously. I am very pleased with the much needed upgrade. Once the firmware update has been accomplished you will have NO problems following the easy to follow instructions that come in the package. What a breeze!

The device either blocks too much or nearly nothing; it is too difficult to configure. Since it is an obvious device between our fios cable and the router, my son simply removed it when I wasn't home. His excuse was that he couldn't go to some legitimate sites for his homework.

I found an alternative solution called iBoss, which has the functions built in within the router itself. It works better, and no one can remove it to bypass the filter since it is built in.

With 7 kids, 6 computers, various PocketPCs with WiFi in my home (and an assortment of other internet-enabled devices), it's been next to impossible to monitor everthing that trickles in (it's mostly kids' friends and "accidents" that we worry about). For a couple of years I've relied on an MSN "software only" account to handle content filtering--with lots of problems. The other hardware solution that I've messed with (based on a dedicated linux system) might be fine for some, but require too much fiddling with.

This little box has replaced MSN, seems faster, and costs less. I can manage it from work which is nice for the occasional call I'll get from home that something appropriate is getting blocked.

Even though it comes with licenses for just 4 computers, many of the features (including content management) work against ALL of my computers--even without loading a client. I only bother with the client on the older kids' computers.

I highly recommend this device!

The magic box is a DSD-150 device from D-Link. It is an internet protection box that provides spam, AV, Spyware, ADWare, and more, in onc small package. At first I was skeptical that the cigarette box sized gadget could do anything when I got it. I was expecting a router sized device, seems "size really does not matter in this case". It is small, really the size of a Canadian cigarette box ( they have 25 smokes not 20) so it is a little wider than the US version.

The first 3 days, I wanted to pack it up and send it back. It is designed to sit between your Cable/DSL Terminal Adapter (also know as a modem but mis-named and irritates me off. Modems take analog signals and convert them to digital, Terminal Adapters are all digital as is this device and all cable "modems" and DSL "modems", ok enough of that.) The support from D-Link needs some help! They don't know what is up with this product and should, it is too good to leave to first level support! When I finally got to level 3 of support, things changed. I was treated well and they knew what they were talking about. From there is went almost smoothly, I have fixed IP addressing and the default assumes PPPoE. If you have PPPoE it will install and work perfectly, if not, call support.

This gizmo provides, parental control, spam blocking, popup blocking, AV (Anti-Virus) and other features that are great. If you have more than one computer in your home network, it is a deal. It supports up to 4 computers for its about $100 price and you can add up to 10.

I bought a Secure Spot box to use on my home network. I have both a PC and a Mac. It works great on both. Having a 7 year old who is very computer literate already, caused me to get something that would keep him from unintentionally going to sites that I'd rather him not go to, as he is very www.(whatever word comes to mind).com happy. I had a little trouble at the beginning with setup, but the online chat technical support was a breeze and the support person was able to help me troubleshoot quickly. I'd buy it for the filter alone. Having peace of mind while my family is on the Internet, is worth the price of of the suite. I will be renewing my subscription to the service next year.

I supervise 13 Computer Field Engineers and have worked in the computer support industry for more than 24 years. I have seen many products come and go; few are as impressive as Securespot
Simply put, this product does what it is designed to do and does it very well.
The basic setup is simple but don't let that fool you; there are features I have yet to implement (I have only had it for less than 24 hours).
I recommend this solution to anyone that wants to take control of the internet back. My 14 year old son recently was a victim of a "porn storm". He is a devout Christian boy and was very concerned of what he had seen; though only seconds on the screen he won't forget for a long time.
I tested Securespot on his computer this morning (10/18/06) and though I cannot say that this product is 100% effective it is 99.9%. I am certain he will not be subject to another incident like before again.
On top of the internet site control, this product also does the other stuff that takes 3 or more pieces of software to handle. It is less intrusive than any of the "internet" security/AV/Anit-Spam/Anti-spyware/etc" programs.
To say that I am impressed is an understatement. We are quick to point out when something doesn't work, D-Link and Bsecure deserve recognition of a product well done.

I've been using my SecureSpot since May 15th 2006 (right after launch)

I was reading some of the bad reviews about this product, and I don't agree with any of them. Looks like people want everything perfect right off the bat!

Remember this is the first and only application like this out there for the home user right now, and it far exceeds any other software based applications. And with each update to the firmware and software it keeps getting better.

You can't just plug it in accept the defaults and expect it to work perfectly you have to tweak (especially the firewall) the settings, because everybody's home network setup is different. And that is where the excellent and I mean "EXCELLENT" customer service comes in to guide you through this process.

For my dollar there is nothing better, and if you take the time to learn the device and how it works there is probably nothing better for your dollar either.

As many reviewers, I was attracted to this product both for the content filtering for my kids and to try to contain the spiraling costs of antivirus software for all the systems in my house. Unlike several reviewers I did understand there was a$79/Yr renewal fee, it was still cheaper than the $60/yr/machine cost Symantec was charging. Now on to the review.

The spam filter is pretty much worthless, turned if off the 2nd day after installing the product.
The pop-up blocker really is redundant and not needed with IE/Google/Yahoo all having the same functionality and work better. Problem was, I could not turn it off despite disabling it in the management console. A call to tech support, always friendly seldom helpful, advised me I would need to go disable the add-on in IE on all of my systems.. 5 as of now... arg....
The content filtering has been an on going battle. As another reviewer noted, it frequently looses it's mind and blocks almost everything. It seems to completely ignore the content settings in the management console. I have spent so many hours on the phone with tech support over this issue they know my kids by name and I now feel compelled to send them a Christmas card. My last round with tech support was after upgrading the thin client to 2.0, a move I hoped would solve some of the erratic behaviors, but not.. After the upgrade the profile for my youngest daughter was being blocked from the Disney web site???, Microsoft, and Google. After an hour on phone with tech support, during one of the numerous "can you hold while I check with tech staff" I decided to grab the laptop and try her account there to see if it exhibited the same problems. The problem disappeared.. The tech figured it was because I had logged into her account on two systems at the same time??? Today, Easter, it is blocking searches for "pictures of Easter Eggs" labeling the content as "unstable". Guess it might be worried one of the pictures of the eggs may fall and break. Now on to the firewall.

Until recently I had not fussed with the FW, having a wireless router behind the D-Link appliance I did not care much. This was until I switched my phone service over to Vonage...I had configured the D-Link for use with Vonage, they actually have a default config to set up for use with Vonage. Thought everything was great. That was until I started getting a lot of calls to my cell from my kid's friends. I soon realized that Vonage was forwarding the calls from my home phone to the cell because it thought my network was down. I.E. Vonage was not seeing the phone adaptor and figured my cable modem was down. I had my suspicions that it was a firewall issue, but thought it might be my wireless router because the D-Link already had the setting for Vonage configured. I decided to move the Vonage adaptor in front everything and connect it directly to the modem, then the D-Link and finally the wireless router.. not... the D-Link would not accept the DHCP configuration from the Vonage adaptor. That foiled I move the D-Link back to the front followed by Vonage and then the wireless router.. Still had same problems. I finally disable the firewall in the D-Link, problem solved.
So in summary, I have disabled the spam,pop-up and firewall features of this device. The content filtering is buggy. The only feature I have not had a problem with as of yet is the antivirus.. At this point I am very close to removing it entirely save for the antivirus costs.
With masters in software engineering and over 20 years in the industry, I have to say I am very disappointed that D-Link would release a product with this level of immaturity