Ease of Use:  

This product is designed with people who are “technologically challenged” in mind. In fact, it starts working as soon as you’ve finished installation, making it perfect for the people who just want a simple setup without the need to tweak and modify.

For those of you who would prefer to personalize the settings more, there are plenty of options for customization. In the Administration Tools interface, there are well-labeled categories under two headings—User Settings and Family Settings. The Categories include Profile Settings, Time Controls, Reports and Email Notifications. The remote access interface is similar and just as easy to use.

Net Nanny might be a little frustrating for some people to use because it can slow down the surfing speed of your browser. You might notice a bit more of a delay when navigating sites as Net Nanny does its job though it might not be a problem for most users because it’s not a debilitating delay.

Another advantage of Net Nanny is that it’s useful for people who need Internet filtering on more than one computer. Net Nanny offers a subscription-based service with discounts for additional subscriptions. This makes it possible to protect multiple users for far less than most other products. This solution is also useful for small businesses or home offices that have multiple computers.

Net Nanny is completely customizable. You can choose what to filter, and what to allow. Net Nanny even incorporates age-based profiles to help you determine the best settings for each of your children.

Overall, Net Nanny is quite simple to use, and accommodates for a variety of user levels. The interface is streamlined, the program is organized effectively, and navigation and use are pretty much intuitive.

Ease of Installation:  

The download and installation were quick and easy. If you need to install the product on multiple computers, the software allows you to carry over customized settings to each of your computers thus saving time and creating consistency.

Keeping the level of protection current is not a problem; Net Nanny includes automatic silent filter definition updates. And because the service is subscription based, you get any program updates that may occur.

Filtering Effectiveness:  

We tested the software for overblocking (websites that should not have been blocked) and underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not). The ideal Internet filter should have a nice balance between detecting sites that might go unnoticed as inappropriate and releasing sites that may have subjects or keywords that seem inappropriate at first, but are not.

Net Nanny works particularly well because it doesn’t rely on a database of URLs; instead, Net Nanny analyzes websites in real-time as you surf the Internet. Net Nanny identifies page content that doesn’t meet your filtering criteria and then blocks the offending content. As we mentioned above, there is one drawback to this: page loading times are slowed a little by this process, but it’s not too noticeable and worth it if you want to filter sites.

Net Nanny utilizes SSL (HTTPS) filtering to truly filter (not just block) questionable content in real-time. This also enables Net Nanny to proactively prevent attempts made to get around the filter by using secure proxy web sites, a common method used to circumvent filtering.

Net Nanny passed our tests successfully but not perfectly. Frankly, Net Nanny performed better than almost all the competition. If anything, Net Nanny was a little overprotective. The program overblocked from time to time, but with the immediate override function, it wasn’t a big inconvenience. Most parents would rather err on the side of safety so the overblocking won’t be an issue for most people.

Very few instances of underblocking occurred, even with foreign language websites, which are notorious for confusing Internet Filter programs. We were pleasantly surprised because most Internet filtering programs have problems detecting pornography on foreign language websites. Even if you don’t visit foreign language sites often, Net Nanny will still provide good protection, regardless of language.

Net Nanny doesn’t stop with just websites; there are other problems out there. Net Nanny can detect and block other sources such as instant messaging programs and email accounts. There are many different settings that allow you to customize the level of filtering. This can help protect children from predators who might not rely on the pervasive chatrooms on the Internet.

The filtering can even go beyond specific content. You can also monitor and regulate the amount of time that your children spend in specific areas. If your child has a problem with spending too much time on Internet gaming sites, you can set time limits for individual users so that they each can only be on the Internet for a certain amount of time each day. This is a favorite for parents because their kids know that they will have to conserve some of their Internet time for homework and other important things. This function is nice because it doesn’t mean that you need to take away Internet privileges completely. And that’s the beauty of this Internet filter software; it gives you options instead of ultimatums.
 

ContentWatch offers Net Nanny with the cutting edge technology to create the ultimate internet safety software. Net Nanny has combined all the right features (and then some) in an easy-to-use internet filtering solution. Simply put—the internet can be a dangerous place and certainly contains unacceptable content. Children can be protected with filtering software and Net Nanny is the best.

If you are looking for ContentProtect Professional for businesses or ContentProtect Professional Appliance for Enterprise corporations, read our review here.