Moral Metric

Content:

TITLE: 
Review of Sentry at Home 5.4

AUTHOR: 
Movie research by <a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/authors/41-moral-metric-labs">Moral Metric Labs</a>

ARTICLE URL: 
http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp

BANNER URL: 
http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_banner&cmp_src=cp

MORAL METRIC RATING: 
7/10 - Caution, may have some objectionable themes.

SUMMARY: 
Sentry at Home 5.4 provides strong filtering once configured.

BOTTOM LINE:
Sentry at Home 5.4 provides strong filtering once configured. Setup can be confusing and buggy; the product only monitors (rather than filters) out of the box.

BODY:

Key Findings
Very good monitoring.Runs in stealth modeDifficult setup
Sentry at Home is the filtering product and one of three products SentryParentalControls.com (formally known as Search Help). Company's other products include Sentry Predator Alert (software that notifies you if a sexual predator moves into your neighborhood), and Sentry Remote which allows you to view your child's computer using any other computer or even lock your child's computer using your cell phone.  Sentry at Home is very much like Sentry Remote, with the addition of Internet Filtering.  Sentry at Home doesn't filter anything if you don't alter the default settings. It only monitors. Significant user setup is required if you are using this product as a filter.

Setup was confusing in our testing. It didn't match the setup instructions from the box, leaving us wondering if the product was even working at first.  We were even more confused once we found our way to the Web site and logged in. Our account starts at "Level 2" which, according to them, is recommended for children over 14 years old.  Parents should not assume that a company's age-based  recommendations are in line with their own.  Sentry at Home's "Level 2" setting is monitoring only. You are not filtering anything until you change this to Level 1.

We found the product's Web site filtering to be quite effective once changed to Level One, monitor rbooted (or settings updated via admin password) and software working as a filter.

Sentry at Home's notification feature worked very well. We were notified very quickly by email or Text message that a violation had occurred. We also found instant message monitoring and logging was virtually live "in real time."  This is a feature likely to be used by parents at work (while older teens or at home) or with children who have a PC in their bedroom (not a recommended setup for any family concerned with child safety, see: A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety from the FBI)

Bugs in the control panel (which is located on the product website) left us unable to block Instant Messenger programs or control time settings for weekends.

The strong filtering results were outweighed in the end by the confusing setup, required changes to the default settings, and bugs in the control panel.  We rated Sentry at Home a 6 as a filter, while Sentry at Home may be an excellent monitor or spyware application.

Agree?  Disagree?  Do you want stop harmful material from reaching your child or simply monitor your child?  Let us know your thoughts in the comment area below.

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<div class="fullReview">
  <a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Full Review</a>
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  <div style="float:right; width:30%; border: solid #ddd; border-width: 0 0 1px 1px; padding:1em; margin:0 0 0 1em;">
    <a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp"><img alt="Moral Metric" src="http://www.moralmetric.com/images/logo-small.gif" /></a>
    <div style="margin-top:20px;"><b><a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Sentry at Home 5.4</a></b></div>
    <div style="margin-top:20px;">
      <img src="http://www.moralmetric.com/images/ratings/light-7-small.gif?cmp_src=cp" alt="7/10" title="Moral Metric Rating: 7/10" /> 
      <b><a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Moral Metric Rating</a></b><br />
      <span class="value">7</span>/<span class="best">10</span> - 
      Caution, may have some objectionable themes.
    </div>
    <div style="margin-top:20px;">
      <b><a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Community Rating</a></b> -  
      <a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Visit Moral Metric</a> to see the community rating and add your own rating.
    </div>
    <div style="margin-top:20px; font-size:100%">
      <b>MPAA Rating:</b> <br />
      <b>USA Release:</b> <br />
      <i>Movie research by <a href="">Moral Metric Labs</a></i>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div style="font-size:100%;">
    <b><a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp">Moral Metric Bottom Line</a></b>
    Sentry at Home 5.4 provides strong filtering once configured. Setup can be confusing and buggy; the product only monitors (rather than filters) out of the box.

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</p>

<a href="http://www.moralmetric.com/reviews/web-safety-products/709-review-of-sentry-at-home-54?cmp_id=709&cmp_medium=cp_article&cmp_src=cp"><b>Read the discussion and add your own comment</b> and rating on MoralMetric.com - click here</a><br>

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