Pros
Are there really pros if it doesn't work as described?
Cons
Support sucks
Summary
Would you buy software from a company with one support person? This snippet from an exchange with Cyberptrol support:
Hello xxxxx,
First off, I do not appreciate the tone,
Second, if there was a bug in our software, it would be affecting more than one customer, and as I mentioned earlier, we have tested both Time Management and Time Management with Program Restrictions and they were as designed.
If you are experiencing problems and need further assistance, please provide the filter settings reports for further investigation. If you suspect that there is a problem with your installation, you can also reinstall the program to see if the problem persists.
Lastly, being a small company, unfortunately, we do not have anyone else providing support other than me.
signed, xxxxxx
Pros
Adjustable settings is good.
Cons
Every time you re-install, your list of blocked sites gets lost and have to be re-typed. no phone support and after writting an email explaining my troubles I got a "i hope you solved your problem!" email after 5 days!!! I switched to netnanny.
Summary
choose a software with better tech support.
Pros
Very full-featured. I really like the ability to create my own lists of sites to block or allow, as well as the ability to control what days/times my kids can use the internet. Much more comprehensive than other similar software I've looked at.
Cons
None that's I've found yet.
Summary
This is a great product. I think it does everything you want a Parental Controls product to do.
Pros
Comprehensive and flexible. I like that I can control the time kids spend online. I like the fact that it covers 3 PCs and all users. Met all my expectations. Good stuff!
Cons
Takes a while to set up if you want to customize settings. To be expected.
Summary
This is a great parental control product. It blocks the bad sites. But you can also control the time on a computer and block programs. Very comprehensive. It's very flexible so you can create detailed individual settings. You can also select from reset settings by age, etc.
Pros
I really like the ChatGard feature in CyberPatrol. It allows me to block words and other things that I don't want to leave our PC's like addresses and phone numbers
Cons
I can't think of anything that I find objectionable. It works really well for me.
Summary
CyberPatrol was easy to set up and is easy to use. It allows me to set up different user accounts for the entire family that are age appropriate. I have just the control that I want. I have also found it to be a very economical solution as with the purchase of one license I can use it on 3 PC's I highly recomment this product.
Updated on Feb 4, 2010
I did the upgrade and CyberPatrol works fine for me.
Pros
It's worked fine for several years.
Cons
Upgrade lost what customised filter settings I had, without warning. Also zapped browser session with activation code. Demanded credit card details again for what's supposed to be a 'free' upgrade.
Summary
Older versions seemed to supply some unobtrusive if incomplete control over my curious family's net access. Unsure whether the new version will be as straightforward to use, the disruptive 'upgrade' process doesn't give confidence.
Pros
I have used CyberPatrol for 2 years and it's one of the strongest and most sophisticated products out there. Have been generally happy with the old versions 7.6 and before
Cons
Filtering does not work the same in the new version & it disallows one from making certain types of URLS 'safe' or 'allowed'. As a result, beware, this filter will block &make unresolvable many sites based on URL strings that aren't a domain name.
Summary
I was 'forced' to upgrade to 7.7 because they are not upgrading the old code base, and this new version they are marketing 'rebuilt from the ground up' which should be a red flag. Looks like I need to downgrade to 7.6 or try a different product. Tech support was also wrong about the behavior of 7.7. So reading the previous reviews of CyberPatrol is a good idea, however they all relate to versions before 7.7. The main issue is mentioned above--many sites produce long URL 'strings' after the domain name with gobbledy gook that make them work, just about every site other than the most basic. If an allowed keyword is in that string, then it still will be blocked if there is a disallowed keyword within that allowed keyword. As a result, any word that's ok (such as posture for example) within one of these long strings will actually make the web site be blocked if you have a keyword of pos. (pos is a bad example, imagine more realistic keywords here). This did not occur in the previous version, for obvious reasons.
Pros
Not sure what the first reviewer here was doing but it does install correctly if you delete your cookies before installing. This is a very easy to use program yet does the job it's suppose to. I have had an ocassional miss but it's rare and I think that all the filters miss some sometimes.
Cons
None yet
Pros
Highly configurable and does a very good job blocking without making browsing the internet impossible! I think it's the best of the 4 top brands!
Cons
Slowed down browsing speed a little bit, but still very acceptable.
Pros
None - it wouldn't even install correctly
Cons
Like Geoff, I couldn't remove it and it refused to accept my password. I manually deleted all components I could find from my office laptop, but there is still an entry in the add/remove programs list and I don't know whether the laptop has Internet access any more. If I had been at home, I would have monitored the installation with Total Uninstall 3 to ensure I could remove it.
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