I break up with you dear F-Secure Sense router

KennethN
KennethN Posts: 47 Enthusiast

During the summer of 2017, I got my new and shiny F-Secure Sense.

 

I have read alot about it, waited for over 6 months, asked on Twitter and waited. 

The day finally came, I got the confirmation mail, and I was exited!! 

 

I got the note from the Norwegian post office, it was ready for pickup.

  • With a 50 euro bill... Due to norwegian taxes.. First bummer, but I paied

After using it for a while, I even made a shelf on the wall to have it on display, something strange happend to it, and I found this forum.

 

After reading, and posting, I was not alone with the bugs. I did reset, soft and facotory, waited for reply and tested more.

 

The joy of what I got was away, it was a annoying box, the clock was correct tho.

 

Loosing the connection with the phone, I was missing the techincal stuff from my old Linksys router:

  • External access
  • Edit from browser
    • Copy past ports to NAS, Raspberry PI´s, ip cams etc
  • Use more than one device to edit the config
  • Reser ip adresses
  • My own block list

As the days went on, I got more and more annoyed and I do live in a flat with 100 m2, not that big, but I did not even have 100% coverage, and I had to switch maually between 2,4 Ghz and 5 Ghz...

 

This have been my daily life for 6 months now, and this should be a joy to use. 

It is not.

 

So, this blackfriday, I bought something else.

 

https://www.amplifi.com/

 

Sorry F-Secure, I did try, but when your homewifi is too poor to be used easy, and with the ongoing bugs, I hearby break up with you. 

 

We had fun, you was not easy to work with and in the end, we had to go different ways.

 

I hope I can find a new family for you, right now you are offline....

Comments

  • I feel you and I think many of us do too.

    F-Secure Sense development team has a lot to do before the end of Q2/2018 if they want people to pay for the monthly subscription.

    And I think that they should even before that  show us the development plans and timelines, so we could recommend Sense to friends and family.

    Quite many of my friends and colleagues have asked about the Sense and should they buy it, but sadly I had to say to wait a year or so since this is not a ready product for everyone.

     

    I know that the Sense development went sideways few times for reasons like changes on the hardware manufacturers and so on. And it seems that they just needed to publish the product because it had been delayed for too long already. Even though most of us here in the forum know what that decision caused.

    F-Secure even themselves commented about Sense on F-Secure stock "speech" that Sense will prove and provide better results in the long run, but hasn't yet.

     

    For me, I don't know what the issue is, maybe I'll find out after I change apartment or internet service provider.

     

    I really hope that the feature request list changes to features already implemented list in the following 6-8 months.

  • User2028
    User2028 Posts: 33 Explorer

    I have to agree here.

     

    - Not having a guest network

    - Not being able to use my Arlo cameras through the router because of disconnects (frequently reported here)

    - Having to reconfigure the thing from scratch and rebuild all of my custom device names and icons when I got a new phone

    - Not having a custom blacklist

    - My CUJO firewall catching bad IPs that the SENSE is not

     

    They are things that really need to get fixed before my annual subscription is due.

  • Ukko
    Ukko Posts: 3,611 Superuser

    Hello,

     

    Sorry for my reply (as not a F-Secure SENSE router user).

     

    I think that it was good statement about:

    ...
    ... since this is not a ready product for everyone.
    ...

    Because, for example, F-Secure has published an article where SENSE is proposed as good gift (?):

     

    (do not open it with Microsoft Edge browser)


    Also, for me, always was interesting where SENSE is expected. For example, if we do not use 'connected' devices (more than one smart tv) - all of such designs is not important already? With meanings that for only laptops, desktops, phones should be enough to use security solutions and some routers (most of them with many 'available' security tweaks). So, does SENSE will be still cool router itself (compare to other routers)?

     

    And, for example, does SENSE Team created (prepared) some gifts for their colleagues (at F-Secure)? :)

    Or most of them already with SENSE router at their homes (if there is any requirements or reasonable-view based on previous points)?

     

    Or, for example, does SENSE router 'in use' only at F-Secure SENSE testlab office? Or it works at F-Secure office with full meanings? Does it work good with such view? Or not enough safe?

     

    Sorry for my reply.

     

    Just it was interesting always -> because I able to feel that SENSE still is not sensed properly. maybe based on summerizied kracksters; or maybe because there is not enough "closest" internal feedback (what is most useful step to create sensitive features). As result.. overstressed currently (except for potential winterizied-treatment).

     

    Thanks!

  • User2028
    User2028 Posts: 33 Explorer

    So I gave the Norton Core a try recently.  It has features I am missing with the SENSE, like a custom blacklist and a guest network.  It has better range than the SENSE, too, at least in my home.  Big problem is:  it disconnects all of my devices for 3-4 minutes about 2-3 times per day.  Super annoying... couldn't deal with it and went back to SENSE full time.

     

    Really need a guest network, custom blacklist, and the Arlo problem fixed.  Arlo worked fine on the Core.

This discussion has been closed.