Review: SurfDoubler Plus

By: Brent Hecht

As broadband connections and multi-computer homes become more common, the need to share a single Internet connection over a home network does too. On the Windows platform, there are many solutions for this growing need. In fact, Microsoft recently added a simple Internet sharing feature into Windows 98. However, on the Mac side, there are much fewer choices. Vicomsoft's SurfDoubler Plus is one. True to the Mac tradition, the software aims to make the process of sharing an Internet connection as easy as possible. In addition, SurfDoubler Plus has the ability to filter objectionable Internet content, a potentially incredibly useful feature for parents and school administrators.

SurfDoubler Plus is extremely easy to install and configure for Internet sharing. Configuring for Internet filtering is a different story, but I'll get to that later. The first time SurfDoubler Plus is launched, users are greeted with a setup assistant starring Darko, the Internet setup wizard. Darko makes the Internet sharing setup process extremely simple. He automatically copies all the necessary information from the TCP/IP control panel (and the Remote Access control panel if necessary). Within two minutes, you'll have SurfDoubler Plus setup to share your connection. However, setting up the SurfDoubler Plus application is only half the battle. The other Mac(s) on the network still need to be configured. Fortunately, SurfDoubler Plus employs the use of DHCP, a network protocol that makes configuring client computers as easy as pie. Only a few simple settings need to be changed.

Internet sharing servers often get a lot of flack for not supporting the entire set of Internet protocols. Fortunately, SurfDoubler Plus supports most, if not all, of them. I was able to use everything from QuickTime streaming to web browsing to email without a hitch.

SurfDoubler Plus also sports a few advanced features that are transparent, but quite powerful. The first is DNS caching, which stores a copy of each domain name accessed by any computer on the network and thereby minimizes delays when the Internet gets finicky. The second is a complete Firewall in software, which blocks hackers and other delinquents from accessing your network uninvited.

SurfDoubler Plus's Internet sharing feature is not perfect however. One large limitation is that the software only supports two simultaneous Internet connections. This means that only two computers can be on the Internet at the same time. In a school or home with more than two computers, this can become quite a problem. Another problem is that even though SurfDoubler Plus supports both Ethernet and LocalTalk networks, it can only share an Internet connection over one type of network. That means that if you use both Ethernet and LocalTalk, only one side of your network can have Internet access. Vicomsoft does offer a product, Internet Gateway, that does not have these two limitations, but it costs $150 more.

Once Internet sharing is set up, users can take advantage of SurfDoubler Plus's other main feature, Internet filtering. SurfDoubler Plus provides four types of Internet filtering: User Defined Filters, Protocol Filters, CyberNOT Filters, and Time Control Filters. The User Defined filters allow users to ban a specific host (like apple.com or xxx.com). They also support wildcards, a feature that advanced users will appreciate. The Protocol Filters allow users to define banned and permitted Internet protocols (like FTP and SMTP). The Time Control filters allow the user to set times at which Internet access is permitted. Finally, the potentially most powerful of the filters is the CyberNOT filter. CyberNOT is a constantly updated list of objectionable web sites maintained by The Learning Company. SurfDoubler Plus allows users to ban certain categories of the objectionable sites listed by CyberNOT. For instance, users can ban web sites that display nudity, intolerance, and violence, but allow other types of objectionable sites such as search engines and sexual health web sites.

All of these filtering options are nice, but do they actually work? Unfortunately, the answer is far from "yes." In general, the User Defined Filters, Protocol Filters and Time Filters worked without problems. Whenever I tried to access a barred site, a website displaying a message that the site has been banned popped up. However, the CyberNOT filters are a completely different story. I barred every single category of objectionable sites and tried my luck at accessing some. The search engines filter blocked access to the main search engines such as Excite and Yahoo, but Ask Jeeves (http://www.ask.com) popped up just fine. I was also able to access Guns.com (http://www.guns.com) and drkoop.com's sexual health web page. What makes things worse it that after the first six months, there is an additional fee if you wish to continue using CyberNOT. The bottom-line: don't expect the CyberNOT filters to block access to every objectionable site. Bad security is worse than no security at all. The only way to truly monitor what your kids/students are doing on the web is to watch them yourself.

The Internet sharing half of SurfDoubler Plus is a great product. The Internet filtering half, however, provides a false sense of security. Fortunately, Vicomsoft offers a cheaper product, SurfDoubler (without the "Plus") that provides the Internet sharing features sans the Internet filtering. Unless you really want the User Defined, Protocol, and Time filtering features of SurfDoubler Plus, my advice is to save twenty bucks and buy the "non-plus" SurfDoubler.

Genre: Internet Utilities, Servers

Platform: MacOS, Windows

Format: CD-ROM, Web Download

Publisher: Vicomsoft

Requirements: 68040 or PowerPC processor, Mac OS 7.5.3 or newer, Open

Transport 1.1.1 or newer, 5MB or more of free RAM, up to 3MB of free hard

disk space

Network feature: Supports AppleTalk and TCP/IP

Retail price: $74

Availability: Now

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October 07, 2008