Overview
OpenDNS Home VIP is another product from Cisco Systems, one of the biggest names in network and internet technology in the world. Cisco is the world’s biggest DNS network, and they leverage that power with OpenDNS Home VIP. The service is similar to their OpenDNS and OpenDNS Home services, but provides even more features and benefits.
Pros
OpenDNS is used by 1 in 3 schools across the country for their internet monitoring and filtering needs. That kind of support should give parents great confidence that OpenDNS will be able to provide the solutions they’re looking for when it comes to keeping their child away from inappropriate or harmful content.
OpenDNS Home VIP includes all of the services and features that you get with OpenDNS Home, but it includes extras. One notable extra is a year of internet stats from your network. That means you can go back and see where harmful material and content comes from. You can also use it to monitor your children’s internet content and see what kind of sites they’re going to.
Another feature you get with OpenDNS Home VIP is the ability to restrict internet access to specific “white list” of approved internet domains. As a result, you can keep a tight lid on the content that your children are exposed to. You can also use this service to pick and choose what kind of values are in the content that your children see. As a result, it’s one of the best options for parents who want to be sure that they know what kind of material their children are seeing.
Cons
OpenDNS Home VIP isn’t perfect. It doesn’t have many of the extra features that you get in other internet monitoring applications. That means no device location services, no app blocker, no game blocker, and similar features.
Additionally, OpenDNS Home doesn’t work the same way that other filtering programs do. It doesn’t work as a program on your computer, as much as it handles the internet traffic going to your network at the DNS level, which is the sort of address system that the internet uses to direct traffic.
Verdict
Open DNS Home VIP is an excellent choice for high-level internet filtering. It works with one of the strongest internet networks in the world, and is the program of choice for 1/3 of schools in the country. Open DNS Home VIP gives you more tools than OpenDNS Home, and should be one of the first products that you try when you’re attempting to monitor and restrict your children’s internet activities.