| Frequently
Asked Questions and Answers |
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| Welcome
to the questions and answers page for the iBoss™ Standard, iBoss™ Professional, and iPhantom™ products. Below is an index that
lists some of the more commonly asked questions about us and
our products. |
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let us know if these questions and answers are helpful and
if you found the answer to your question. If you don't find
what you are looking for and would like to send a question
or a comment, please click here. |
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| Product Index |
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| iPhantom™ Index |
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| Q.
How do I install the iPhantom™? |
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Installing the iPhantom™ is simple and can be done 3 easy
steps:
1) Unplug the network cable from the back of your computer
and plug it in to the iPhantom™ Internet jack.
2) Connect one end of the supplied network cable to the PC jack of the iPhantom™ and the other end to your PC.
3) Power on the iPhantom™. Your PC Internet connection is
now secure and protected. |
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| Q.
How do I know my data is secure? |
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| The iPhantom™ uses strong AES encryption to secure your data.
AES is the standard established by the U.S. NIST (National
Institute of Standards and Technology), and is used in enterprise
level security applications all over the world today. The
iPhantom™ uses 128-bit and 256-bit keys along with strong authentication
modes to ensure maximum data security. |
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| Q.
I don't know much about computers, will I be able to use the
iPhantom™? |
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| The iPhantom™ is extremely easy to use and requires very little
knowledge of computers. There is no software to install, and
no long, confusing manuals to read. You can be up and running
with an iPhantom™ in less than 10 seconds. |
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| Q.
I have a computer at work and a laptop at home, can the iPhantom™ be used with both? |
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| Yes. The iPhantom™ works with both laptops
and PCs and is great for traveling. It is very small (fits
in the palm of your hand) and light (4 oz) which makes it
extremely mobile. Simply unplug the iPhantom™ and carry
it with you anywhere you need Internet protection. |
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| Q.
Is any of my data logged? |
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| No. The iPhantom™ does not keep logs. Your privacy and protection is our number one concern. |
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| Q.
Will the iPhantom™ slow down my computer? |
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| No. The iPhantom™ was designed as a stand-alone
device that operates outside of your computer. With advanced
processing done in hardware, the iPhantom™ will not slow down your computer like software can. |
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| Q.
How does the iPhantom™ make me anonymous on the Internet? |
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| When you go online with the iPhantom™, all of your Internet
requests are encrypted and routed to our secure Phantom Gateways.
These gateways decrypt the requests and then reroute them
to the proper destination on the Internet. When the request
reaches the proper destination, it looks like the Phantom
Gateway sent the request, not you. This makes it impossible
for others to track your activities on the Internet. |
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| Q.
How does the firewall work? |
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| When you are online and secure with the iPhantom™, you have automatic firewall protection. The firewall works by
filtering malicious data packets coming from the Internet to your PC. If a data packet coming from the Internet is
flagged as a threat, the packet will be blocked by the firewall so it will never reach your computer. This prevents
hackers and other unauthorized users from gaining access to your PC without your permission. |
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| Q.
How does the iPhantom™ protect me against viruses? |
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| Rather than detecting viruses after they have entered your
computer (like software protection does), the iPhantom™ eradicates
viruses before they reach your computer. All data packets
sent to your computer from the Internet are scanned for possible
virus threats. If a virus is detected, the infected packet(s)
are dropped before they reach your PC. Since the scans are
done in hardware at the packet level, your Internet speed
will not be affected. |
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| Q.
What is DNS and why should it be secure? |
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DNS stands for Domain Name System. All computers on the
Internet have physical addresses. These addresses are represented
in numerical form like 192.168.3.200. It is much easier
for Internet users remember names like www.iPhantom.com
than addresses like 192.168.3.200. DNS is responsible for
mapping Internet names like www.iPhantom.com to numerical
addresses on the Internet.
When
you type a website address like www.iPhantom.com into your
web browser, the browser first sends a DNS request out on
the Internet to find out which numerical address www.iPhantom.com
maps to. This requests is normally sent in plain text and
exposes the fact that you are trying to go to the www.iPhantom.com
website. The iPhantom™ uses "Secure DNS" which
encrypts and protects all of your DNS requests. This prevents
others from tracking the websites that you visit. |
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| Q.
What are cookies and how can the iPhantom™ protect me from them? |
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Cookies are strings of data that are stored on your computer
while you surf the Internet. Websites can put cookies onto
your computer as you move across the Internet. Once the
cookies are stored in your computer, they can be read by
others on the web. Not all cookies are harmful, but many
threaten your privacy by allowing organizations on the web
to track your Internet usage for advertising and other purposes.
The
iPhantom™ allows you to prevent cookies from being stored
or read from your computer. This is done by intercepting
and blocking cookie requests before reach your PC, giving
you an extra layer of privacy protection on the Internet.
Cookie
blocking can be enabled/disabled through the configuration
page at myiPhantom.com. |
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| Q.
What is "myiPhantom.com"? |
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myiPhantom.com is the configuration portal for your iPhantom™
device. Once your iPhantom™ is connected, open a web browser
and type in the url myiPhantom.com. The web browser will
automatically connect you to the status and configuration
pages for your iPhantom™ device. You can check the status
of your iPhantom™, make changes to your configuration, and
manage your subscription.
At myiPhantom.com there are also links to the Phantom Technologies
LLC central website, so you can browse pages to read the
latest news, updates and other information regarding your
iPhantom™. |
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| Q. |
My iPhantom™ is connected to my computer, but the myIphantom.com
status webpage says that my connection is "Not Secure". |
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| If your iPhantom™ is connected, but the connection field on the myIphantom.com status
page reads that your connection is "Not Secure", you most likely have security disabled.
Go to "myIphantom.com" in a web browser and click on the configuration link. Click the enable box under
"Basic Security" and then click the "Apply Changes" button at the bottom of the page. The security
field on the status page may now read "Connecting", and after a few moments should read
"Secure". At this point you are connected and protected with the iPhantom™. |
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| Q. |
I am behind a firewall already that blocks outgoing web traffic on certain ports. Can
I configure the port that the iPhantom™ uses? |
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| Yes. You can configure which port the iPhantom™ uses. Open
a browser and go to "myIphantom.com". Click on the configuration
link and scroll down to advanced setup. Enter the outgoing port that you want the iPhantom™
to use and click the "Apply Changes" button at the bottom of the page when
you are finished. |
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| Q. |
Does your service use Proxy Servers? |
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Our secure Phantom Gateways do by definition
act as a proxy since they are your gatekeeper. However, in
the Internet community when people talk about proxies they
think of the traditional proxy server or socks proxy server.
Our gateways ARE NOT proxy servers in this sense. Proxy services
limit the way you can access the Internet,
and are not compatible with many popular software applications.
Our secure Phantom Gateways are custom designed hardware appliances
running a custom protocol that allows for fully bi-directional
Internet communication. Also, data leaving the iPhantom™ is
processed at the IP packet level, so all protocols supported
under the IP layer are secured, including secure
DNS. |
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| Q. |
What are Phantom Gateways? |
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| Phantom Gateways are
high performance custom network security appliances built
using state of the art hardware technology. When the iPhantom™ is connected,
it will establish a secure
session with one of our Phantom Gateways using strong AES
encryption. Each iPhantom™ is programmed uniquely with its
own private 256-bit key. During session establishment, the
iPhantom™ works with our gateways to establish an IP address
on our protected network. Every IP packet that leaves your
network will travel through the secure connection to our gateways.
These gateways will use a Virtual IP address that was assigned
during session establishment to route your request to and
from the Internet. You can think of our systems as your gatekeeper,
protecting your online identity and keeping your computer
secure from viruses, spyware, intrusions, and other Internet
threats. |
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| Q. |
Does the iPhantom™ make me anonymous to my ISP? |
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| Yes. When data leaves the iPhantom™ it is encrypted and and sent straight to our Phantom Gateways that sit on the backbone
of the Internet. The data will look scrambled when viewed by others, including your ISP. |
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| Q. |
Does the iPhantom™ work with Dial-up Internet services? |
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| The iPhantom™ cannot be connected directly to a dial-up modem,
since only RJ45 Ethernet jacks are provided. However, there
are third party products available that allow connectivity
between a dial-up phone connection and an ethernet-enabled
device such as the iPhantom™. One such product is the WiFlyer
which is available from AlwaysOnWireless (Not associated
with Phantom Technologies LLC in any way). |
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| Q. |
Is the iPhantom™ available for international orders? |
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| Currently our online store ships orders in the United States
and Canada. We do plan on adding other international sales
support to our online store soon. |
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| Q. |
Does the iPhantom™ work behind NAT enabled routers/firewalls? |
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| Yes, the iPhantom™ does work when connected between your computer and a NAT enabled router/firewall. |
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| Q. |
Can the iPhantom™ be connected between my router and my broadband modem so that all of
the computers on my network can share the protection that the iPhantom™ provides? |
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| Yes, the iPhantom™ can be used to protect a shared home network
that uses a router. Click here for directions on how to setup this type of connection. |
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| Q. |
Does the iPhantom™ offer wireless connection support? |
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| Currently the iPhantom™ only supports wired Ethernet connections,
it does not have wireless connectivity built-in. However,
if you have a wireless connection at home, you can connect
the iPhantom™ between your wireless bridge/router and your
broadband Internet modem using a wired connection. This will
allow the wireless computers on your network to be fully protected
by the iPhantom™. |
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| Q. |
Can the iPhantom™ encryption be hacked? |
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| The iPhantom™ and Phantom Gateway systems were designed
using known and proven security techniques. Strong AES (Advanced
Encryption Standard) encryption is used, which was chosen
by US NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
as the new encryption algorithm standard. This algorithm is
trusted and used by the US government and all across the world
in highly sensitive applications that demand maximum security.
The iPhantom™ uses 256-bit master keys, which are approved
by NASA for protecting information classified at the TOP-SECRET
level. According to NIST, the amount of time required to crack
a 128-bit AES key is estimated to be around 149 trillion years,
and the amount of time estimated to crack a 256-bit key is
so astronomically large that it is said to be impossible. |
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| Q. |
Will the iPhantom™ slow down my network connection to the Internet? |
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There is delay when running through any remote Gateway. The iPhantom™ will add latency to your system due to the nature of the tasks that are performed over the network (strong encryption, proxy-like servicing, virus/spyware and network intrusion detection servicing). However, the bandwidth speed penalty incurred by the iPhantom™ is typically small. The encryption processing is all done in hardware (as opposed to software) in both the iPhantom™ and the Gateways, which greatly increases performance and data throughput. Our system uses multiple gateway concentrators at different locations on the backbone of the Internet to ensure load balancing and maximum speeds for each iPhantom™ user. The network is fully scalable; as more iPhantom™ units are sold and deployed; more gateways are deployed to support them. As well, our system is capable of handling large amounts of bandwidth. We are still benchmarking our throughput in the Mb range with results of up to 4Mbps max. |
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| Q. |
How do I maximize bandwidth speed with my iPhantom™? |
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To maximize the bandwidth speed with your iPhantom™, the "MTU" (maximum transmission unit)
setting on your computer should be set to 1300. The method for adjusting this setting varies
depending on the operating system that is installed on your computer and/or networking equipment (routers etc.) that you are using. For Windows® PCs, there
is a simple (currently free) program available called "TCP Optimizer" available at http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php (no affiliation to Phantom Technologies LLC). Through this application you can adjust your MTU.
Follow the steps below:
1. Download and run the program.
2. Under the "General Settings" tab, select "Optimal Settings" towards the bottom of
the window.
3. Change the MTU value (default is 1500) to 1300 and click "Ok".
4. Reboot your computer.
5. Continue this procedure with all of the computers that use
the iPhantom™. |
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| Q. |
Will the iPhantom™ scan for viruses using the AOL browser? |
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| Since the AOL browser tunnels and routes all Internet traffic to their servers, the iPhantom™ will not be able to run security scans on the data packets sent from the AOL browser. This is because AOL uses a proprietary protocol to connect to their servers. In addition, you will not be able to log into the iPhantom™ (myiPhantom.com) using the AOL browser. We recommend using Internet Explorer or Firefox. |
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| Q. |
Will the iPhantom™ work without the subscription? |
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| No. The iPhantom™ needs an active subscription in order to function. |
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| Q. |
I'm running services behind the iPhantom™ and my dynamic IP address automatic updater keeps reporting the IP address of the Phantom Gateways; How do I resolve this? |
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| You will first need to use port forwarding within the iPhantom™ to port forward the ports used for the services. Then for the dynamic updater you can add the domain (ex: dynamicdnsupdater.com) to the Domain/IP address bypass list of the iPhantom™. You may also add the port used by the program to port forwarding list of the iPhantom™. |
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| iBoss™ Standard/Professional Index |
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| Q.
How do I install the iBoss™ Standard/Professional? |
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Installing the iBoss™ Standard/Professional is simple and can be done 3 easy steps:
1) Unplug the network cable from the back of your computer
and plug it in to the iBoss™ Standard/Professional Internet jack.
2) Connect one end of the supplied network cable to the
PC jack of the iBoss™ Standard/Professional and the other end to your PC.
3) Power on the iBoss™ Standard/Professional. Your PC Internet connection can now
be fully managed and controlled. |
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| Q.
I don't know much about computers, will I be able to use the
iBoss™ Standard/Professional? |
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| The iBoss™ Standard/Professional is extremely easy to use and requires very little
knowledge of computers. There is no software to install, and
no long, confusing manuals to read. You can be up and running
with an iBoss™ Standard/Professional in no time at all. The configuration screens are user-friendly, and the wizard screens are simple
to navigate through. |
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| Q.
Will the iBoss™ Standard/Professional slow down my computer? |
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| No. The iBoss™ Standard/Professional was designed as a stand-alone
device that operates outside of your computer. With advanced
processing done in hardware, the iPhantom™ will not slow down your computer. |
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| Q.
What is "myiBoss.com"? |
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myiBoss.com is the configuration portal for your iBoss™ Standard/Professional device.
Once your iBoss™ Standard/Professional is connected, open a web browser and type
in the url myiBoss.com. The web browser will automatically
connect you to the iBoss™ Standard/Professional portal where you can manage your
Internet rules, edit filtering group settings, view log reports,
manage your subscription, and more.
At myiBoss.com there are also links to the Phantom Technologies
LLC central website, so you can browse pages to read the
latest news, updates and other information regarding your
iBoss™ Standard/Professional. |
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| Q. |
My iBoss™ Standard/Professional is connected to my computer, but the
myiBoss.com home page says that my connection is "Not
Active". |
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| If your iBoss™ Standard/Professional is connected, but the connection field on the
myIphantom.com status page reads that your connection is "Not
Active", your iBoss™ Standard/Professional connection is disabled. To enable
your iBoss™ Standard/Professional, click the "Enable" button below the
connection and time fields. The connection field on the home
page may now read "Connecting", and after a few
moments should read "Active". At this point you
are connected and the iBoss™ Standard/Professional Internet management is active. |
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| Q. |
I am behind a firewall already that blocks incoming/outgoing
web traffic on certain ports. Can I configure the port
that the iBoss™ Standard/Professional uses? |
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| Yes. You can configure which port the iBoss™ Standard/Professional
uses. Open a browser and go to "myiBoss.com". Click
on "Configure Internet Connection" and scroll down
to "Advanced Configuration". Enter the incoming
and outgoing ports that you want the iBoss™ Standard/Professional to use and click
the "Apply Changes" button at the bottom of the
page when you are finished. |
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| Q. |
Does the iBoss™ Standard/Professional work with Dial-up Internet services? |
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| The iBoss™ Standard/Professional cannot be connected directly to a dial-up modem,
since only RJ45 Ethernet jacks are provided. However, there
are third party products available that allow connectivity
between a dial-up phone connection and an ethernet-enabled
device such as the iBoss™ Standard/Professional. One such product is the WiFlyer
which is available from AlwaysOnWireless (Not associated
with Phantom Technologies LLC in any way). |
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| Q. |
Is the iBoss™ Standard/Professional available for international orders? |
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| Currently our online store ships orders in the United States
and Canada. We do plan on adding other international sales
support to our online store soon. |
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| Q. |
Does the iBoss™ Standard/Professional work behind NAT enabled routers/firewalls? |
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| Yes, the iBoss™ Standard/Professional does work when connected between your computer
and a NAT enabled router/firewall. |
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| Q. |
Can the iBoss™ Standard/Professional be connected between my router
and my broadband modem so that all of the computers
on my network can be managed by the iBoss™ Standard/Professional? |
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| Yes, the iBoss™ Standard/Professional can be used to manage a shared home network
that uses a router. Click here for directions on how to setup this type of connection. |
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| Q. |
Does the iBoss™ Standard/Professional offer wireless connection support? |
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| Currently the iBoss™ Standard/Professional only supports wired Ethernet connections,
it does not have wireless connectivity built-in. However,
if you have a wireless connection at home, you can connect
the iBoss™ Standard/Professional between your wireless bridge/router and your broadband
Internet modem using a wired connection. This will allow the
wireless computers on your network to be fully managed by
the iBoss. |
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| Q. |
Will the iBoss™ Standard/Professional slow down my network connection to the Internet? |
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| Most of the data that runs through the iBoss™ Standard/Professional will pass through your own broadband connection. For certain portions of the filtering, the iBoss™ Standard/Professional does communicate with our gateways in order to provide its service. However, this only happens on very few small Internet packets. The rest of the Internet traffic through your network will pass directly through your broadband connection. The iBoss™ Standard/Professional has a very high speed processor and uses advanced algorithms that will not impact performance for the traffic passing directly through your network connection. Overall, you should see very little (if any noticeable) speed degradation on your network while using the iBoss™ Standard/Professional. The iBoss™ Standard/Professional was designed to protect entire computers networks at businesses, schools as well as the home level. |
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| Q. |
Will the iBoss™ Standard/Professional filtering work with the AOL browser? |
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Since the AOL browser tunnels and routes all Internet traffic to their servers, the iBoss™ Standard/Professional will not be able to filter the network packets that are run through it correctly. This is because AOL uses a proprietary protocol to connect to their servers. In addition, you will not be able to log into the iBoss™ Standard/Professional using the AOL browser. We recommend using Internet Explorer or Firefox.
To resolve this issue, you may block the AOL browser from going out for the requests and use an alternative web browser. You can do this by blocking the port number used by the AOL browser (5190) within the iBoss™ Standard/Professional custom port blocking section. |
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| Q. |
Will the iBoss™ Standard/Professional work without the subscription? |
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| No. The iBoss™ Standard/Professional needs an active subscription in order to function. |
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| Q. |
I have an internal Exchange Server for E-mail and internal DNS server, will I see any problems using the iBoss™ Standard/Professional with these servers being on my internal network? |
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Yes. Since the iBoss™ Standard/Professional filters DNS requests on the network, having an internal DNS server may cause problems since the iBoss™ Standard/Professional is not between the computers and the DNS server. You will need to set the exchange server and DNS server either in front of the iBoss™ Standard/Professional or on the same switch as the iBoss™ Standard/Professional. These requests need to go through the iBoss™ Standard/Professional in order to be filtered correctly.
If the router/firewall connected ahead (upstream) of the iBoss™ Standard/Professional Internet port has multiple internal (LAN) port interfaces, connect the DNS/Exchange server to one of the unused LAN ports on the router/firewall.
If the firewall/router connected ahead of the iBoss™ Standard/Professional Internet port only has a single internal (LAN) port interface, connect a switch to the single LAN port interface of the router/firewall, then connect both the iBoss™ Standard/Professional and DNS server to the switch.
The reason behind this connection setup is that the iBoss™ Standard/Professional uses DNS request and HTTP requests to filter the different Internet web content that runs through it. If the DNS Server is (incorrectly) connected behind the iBoss™ Standard/Professional (downstream), improper web content filtering will result.
Please refer to the iBoss™ Standard or Professional Complete user manual for instructions here. |
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