The E2BN filtering is the most effective system we have used. The main benefit is the intelligence of the system. With other systems we found that lots of legitimate sites were getting blocked and it was very difficult to get around this so students could be left without a vital resource. With E2BN not only does it block the right sites but even if it does need tweaking we founds that sites were blocked/unblocked at our request within one to two hours if not immediately. Also we are able to have different levels of filtering for our students, staff and younger children from middle schools that visit to use our ICT suites. It leaves you with nothing to complain about because if there is an issue it will get sorted straight away.

We tested the E2BN Protex solution early on and immediately saw the benefits. Before we had this system students knew all the backdoors to filtering: now the backdoors have been blocked. Previously we were reviewing log files during the day making sure students' were not using the known backdoors: now we hardly ever review the log files. There is just no need to do so, because we know the filtering is at the right level.

Additionally, with the advent of filtering levels, we can permit staff to have greater freedom when using the Internet so they can download material such as EXE or ZIP files. These files we would not want students to have access to because their content may compromise the security of our network. This is particularly important as for many schools their ICT system is one of their most costly investments and qualified engineers come at a high price.

We have been using an E2BN filter/cache box at Harrold Priory Middle School for about 18 months now and have been very impressed with it.