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(4 out of 5)
SurfDoubler Plus is a lifesaver - it allows up to three (the third is optional) users to use the Internet at a time, with one phone line, one Internet account. To put it quite simply, it rocks. SurfDoubler Plus is great for home use, or a small-office (such as MacMilitia.com). It works by connecting via modem from one of your Macs and then letting other Macs on a network use TCP/IP to gain Internet access.
When I first heard of SurfDoubler, I was skeptical - "Won't everything go slow, especially considering that the phone lines here are limited to 28.8K?" I was wrong. Everything runs great, most of the time. I mean, are most people constantly downloading webpages? No, they access a page, read it, click on a link, read that page, etc.
Unless you are downloading big files, there are practically no slowdowns. You really have to see it to understand it entirely. Suppose I download a page, and while I am reading it, John downloads a page and reads it, and then, while he is reading that page, I click on a link. The connection would otherwise be inactive while the person is reading the page, so it works fine. There may be a few slowdowns, but not enough to make me pay for another phone line and Internet account.
Set-up
and connecting
SurfDoubler Plus makes it a snap to set-up: there is a set-up wizard (like Apple's Internet Assistant)! You just type in the information (like usernames, passwords, and phone numbers), and it dials it up. Simple.
There are many cool features included in the SurfDoubler app - you can see how much throughput is going through, the number of packets, etc. You can also ping hosts, trace ports, and more.
The client computers need no extra software to access the Internet - they just set a certain setting in the TCP-IP control panel, and they are ready to go.
The computer running SurfDoubler Plus isn't necessarily counted as one of the computers accessing the Internet - if it isn't actually doing anything online, then there can be up to three other computer's accessing the Internet. This is useful if you want to have a computer serve the Internet, but not actually use it.
Filters and access controls
You can restrict access to the Internet based on the CyberNOT Internet Filter List, which is a list of bad (according to Vicomsoft, anyway) sites. In SurfDoubler, you can then check boxes on what you want to restrict (satanic, cult, porn, etc.) I decided not to test these controls because I'd rather not accidentally stumble on to crap.
SurfDoubler
Plus includes a 6-month subscription to the weekly updates of the
CyberNOT list. After that, it costs $25 or $35 (for 2- or 3- user's,
respectively) for a 6-month renewal.
We have a couple of screenshots of SurfDoubler Plus's filter and time controls. Check them out, and you will be able to find out some interesting things about how SurfDoubler Plus works.
You can also set up SurfDoubler Plus to restrict access to the Internet based on the time (for example, John won't be able to use the Internet after 10pm and before 5am), and how much time that user has used the Internet that day (restrict John to 3 hours of Internet on weekdays, and 5 hours on weekends).
Other things
SurfDoubler lets you protect yourself security-wise - it lets you have your own personal firewall. However, I couldn't figure out how to turn it on until I read the User's Guide.
Something I don't like about SurfDoubler is that it's not as easy to connect as it was when I was using Apple Remote Access - I have to open the SurfDoubler app, select the port I want to connect via, and hit command-K (or select "Connect" from the menubar). Also, to stay connected the SurfDoubler app has to stay open. You'd think there would be an easier way to do this. With remote access, you can connect via a Control Strip Module, which is a lot easier.
SurfDoubler Plus is AppleScriptable, allowing you to automate tasks like connecting, disconnecting, and more. However, I don't think it is recordable (which would allow you to hit the 'record' button in the script editor, and then do things in SurfDoubler, and have Script Editor write an AppleScript for you).
I had some problems with frequent disconnects (during busy times of the day) when I first started using SurfDoubler, but I found it had something to do with my ISP's systems "upgrade" (it happened even when I didn't use SurfDoubler).
Something I really don't like is that it doesn't tell the speed you're connected at. Instead, it just says "Connected".
Over all, SurfDoubler is an awesome program, mainly because it allows you to have more than one computer connected to the Internet and also because of it's amazing access controls and filters.
-David Norton
SurfDoubler Website (Trial available)
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