SENSE - Functionality

hutmaster
hutmaster Posts: 1 New Member

I have been looking for a solution to protect all devices at home, both wired and wifi. We have SAFE on PCs and FREEDOME on android devices.

 

Q1 what I would like is the ability to take the FREEDOME service as a VPN via a router. That would protect all devices at home. Are there any plans to offer/sell a router or VPN service for the whole home. WIRED and WIFI.

 

Q2 SENSE looks as if it might do something like I wanted in Q1, but the details are poor. Exactly what does the SENSE unit do? Is it a VPN/Freedome type of service and does it support WIRED computers?

 

Q3 Where in the home network is it connected? Please provide more details on exactly how it works. If that is satisfactory, I will pre-order.

 

Many thanks 

 

 

Comments

  • Ben
    Ben Posts: 2,020 F-Secure Product Expert

    Hello hutmaster,

     

    Sorry for not getting back to you earlier.

    We have now publish our first Knowledge Base articles concerning F-Secure Sense. You can find them here.

    Regarding Q1 and 2 you can find some information of our KBs.
    You can also find out more on what is F-Secure Sense in this article.

    Sense will include wire connector. See the technical details on the product page.

    Regarding Q3 you might find answers in this article.

    Let us know should you have further questions.

  • Thank you for the reply. The information on the site has been improved but I have some additional and important questions before purchasing under the pre-order. These are important because we are rural and our broadband comes into our house via a wireless link provided by our local ISP. They provide a router into the house over which I have no control. I want SENSE to protect all devices in the home and outside the home.

     

    We have purchased SAFE and two subsctiptions to FREEDOME but this gets expensive in a modern home with many devices and SENSE appears to offrer a service that will cover all devices for a single monthly fee.

     

    1) Confirm that the SENSE unit has a single LAN connector connected to my ISP router and then all the house LAN (wired) and wifi 'router' are connected to the 'internal side' ports of SENSE. In other words SENSE sits between my ISP router and all 'house internal' LAN/Wifi devices.

     

    2) That SENSE is in 'simple terms' a Firewall that f-secure update dynamically via your cloud services.

     

    3) That via an APP or similar we can also protect our mobile devices when away from the home

     

    4) Can you confirm that the monthly fee covers ALL connected devices and is not a PER DEVICE charge?

     

    5) The SENSE unit is only of any use if f-secure continue to support it. What is the minimum period you will support the service for customers that have purchased the SENSE unit?

     

    6) I have asked but adding the Freedome VPN functionality is of great interest to me so that all devices within the home are protected.

     

    I did not realise the pre-order offer ended on 31st December. I had expressed interest before that date and had asked my questions.

     

    Many thanks

     

  • Ben
    Ben Posts: 2,020 F-Secure Product Expert

    Hi,

     

    I'll try to reply to your questions as completely as possible.

     

    1.F-Secure Sense is a hardware gadget that sits between your modem and your connected devices in the home network. The product supports both cabled (Ethernet) and Wi-Fi connections on both sides of the gadget.

    As listed in the technical details  SENSE has 4 Ethernet ports (1Gb/s each), of which one is a WAN (Wide Area Network) port and 3 are LAN (Local Area Network) ports.
    The WAN port has to be connected to the internet connectivity box (modem/router) in your home. The 3 LAN ports can be connected to your wired computers or smart home devices (eg a smart TV, a game console or a desktop PC). You can connect an Ethernet switch to one of the LAN ports on SENSE as well, in case you need more than 3 LAN connections.

    Alternatively, either or both sides of the connections (one towards your internet connectivity box and the other towards your smart home devices) can be a Wi-Fi connection too.

     

    2.SENSE is much more than a simple firewall, please check the comparison table on the product page

     scroll down to the section “F-Secure SENSE combines the best aspects of antivirus, firewall, and cloud security” In short, usually firewalls block unwanted connection attempts only.

    They don’t block malware, adware, phishing or other malicious websites, unwanted tracking, etc. SENSE will block all of these, too. Further, unlike most firewalls, SENSE will be updated not only with the latest protection but also with exciting new features.

     

    3.Yes, the lightweight app protects your mobile devices (phones, tabs, laptops, etc) on the go. With the Sense app, the devices that you carry with you when you leave your home are also protected. 

     

    4. That's correct, there is no per-device charge of any kind.

    The SENSE subscription covers all your connected devices for the subscription period.

    When you buy new mobile or smart home devices then simply connect them to your SENSE network (and install the SENSE app, if applicable) and you are covered.

     

    5. The protection is valid for your subscription period and that's guaranteed. And you can always renew your subscription. We at F-Secure have been serving our customers for 27 years, some of our customers have been with us over 10 years. Rest assured that the service will be there for the lifetime of your SENSE gadget which is expected to be longer than the average lifetime of your router or smart home device.

     

    6. We’ll have VPN functionality added to SENSE during 2016.

    Initially not all the Freedome functions will be supported but gradually we’ll extend the SENSE VPN to a full VPN feature set.

     

    Finally, concerning the pre-order offer ending on 31st December, do you mean that you would have like to make a pre-order on this offer but missed it?

     

  • Hi Ben, Thanks for the very complete reply and I think it looks like a very interesting and helpful product and just what I was looking for. I do follow your papers, seminars and Mikko's talks on TED and the recent CeBIT presentations etc

     

    To your last question, yes, I did want to pre-order but I had not noticed the end date, I had noticed the SENSE product and had asked some questions prior to the end date  but with Christmas etc I had not placed my order - so its my fault! I would be very grateful if I were still able to order one at the pre-order offer price.

     

    Many thanks - Bob

     

     

     

  • Vetraci
    Vetraci Posts: 156 Adventurer

    Any chance there will be another attractive pre-order offer? Smiley Happy

  • Ben
    Ben Posts: 2,020 F-Secure Product Expert

    Hi @FormerMember@Vetraci,

     

    I sent you a private message concerning the pre-order for SENSE.

  • Vetraci
    Vetraci Posts: 156 Adventurer

    @Ben 

     

     

    1. Can you specify how much bandwith the Wi-Fi will have at 2.4 and 5 GHZ.

     

    2. Can you specify which components of security Sense app uses (on the go) in comparison to F-Secure Internet Security.

     

    3. Is Sense gadget tested with/compatible to  wi-fi range extenders?

     

    Thanks a lot!

  • Hi Ben, thank you very much, I have just placed my order.

    Bob

  • Vetraci
    Vetraci Posts: 156 Adventurer

    Addition to my questions above:

     

    I have two residences and travelling  a lot between these two places. Do I have to buy two Sense gadgets?

     

    --> If yes, is it posstible to just pay for one subsriptions and still cover all devices at every place?

     

     

     

     

  • Ben
    Ben Posts: 2,020 F-Secure Product Expert

    Hi @Vetraci,

     

    We'll try to cover your last questions below:

    • The Sense gadget has a dual-band Wi-Fi conforming to the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards.We are in the process of testing and tuning the Wi-Fi performance and we’ll provide the numbers in due course.
    • The protection by Sense on your home network is a combination of the Sense gadget and the Sense app protection.

      The protection on the go is provided by the Sense app and it depends on the operating system of your device.

      Eg, on your Android device there is antivirus that’s based on our award-winning Ultralight technology.

      On Windows we have the most comprehensive protection by antivirus with cloud-enabled scanning, behavior-based blocker based on our DeepGuard technology and browsing protection based on URL reputation.

    • We are in the process of testing Sense with various network setups, among others including those with Wi-Fi range extenders.

      We’ll provide compatibility lists when possible.

    • "Do I have to buy 2 Sense gadgets if you have two residences?"The short answer is yes.

    The long answer:  Sense is designed to protect all your connected devices. Some of those are mobile like your phone, laptop or tablet that you take with you.

    However, many of the smart home devices are stationary in your home, like your smart TV, smart smoke alarm or smart lock.

    And you want to keep them connected also when you are in your second residence or elsewhere.

    That’s one of the reasons why you buy smart home devices in the first place.

    Now when you remove your Sense gadget from your primary home then there is no protection for any of the smart home devices staying there.

    In addition, you’d need to re-connect those stationary smart home devices to your router or modem to keep them connected while away.

    Then restore the secure connections with Sense when you return.

    And the same goes for your second residence too.

    It would be a lot of trouble and it would really defeat the purpose of Sense.

    • The subscription is tied to your Sense gadget so you’ll need as many subscriptions as many Sense gadgets you have.

     

This discussion has been closed.