Daddy Dee Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Since moving to the last June, I have gotten DSL and use it in the office and home. The speed on the internet is nice especially compared to dialup, which was the only available service out in the country. I had decided against cable. I will also say that SBC/ATT has the worst customer service I've experienced anywhere, anytime. Talking with people, whenever that was possible has been an absolute fiasco. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that since their merger, they are dealing with no telling what. However, their account management system is simply unsound. The technical end of getting internet at a decent speed is fine. What I'm actually wondering about is the effectiveness of the Protection Services Suite. SBC Yahoo offers (and I use) included in the dSL subscription, virus checker, spyware protection, parental controls, and seems like there is a fourth. I have a pc or two that still use Norton antivirus, but as the subscriptions run out, I've been changing over to the free SBC service. The spyware tool seems worthless. On several occasion when I run a scan, it doesn't find anything. Then running Ad-Aware, I will find twenty or so and delete them. Then I run SpyBot Search and Destroy and find another ten or twelve instances of spyware and delete them. That doesn't inspire me to have faith in the SBC YahooWare. If the antivirus performs no better than the spyware tools, then one could be in deep do-do. Any suggestions? Pay the piper and keep symantec? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Dee...keep the spyware from SBC/ATT/Yahoo...disable the virus protection and get (free download...Kim Komando site or elsewhere) AVG from Grisoft...very well thought of and free...I use Zone Alarm Firewall...another freebie from Kim Komando site (www.Komando.com) I believe...then you'll be set...I had Symantec and it was okay (paid for a few years) but I think these freebies are just as good. (I also use AT&T/Yahoo and agree, when you get someone good, great...when you don't...headaches follow!) Bill Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 Thanks Bill. Sounds like a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Also download Spyware Blaster another freeware. If it is not on Komando then get on Majorgeeks.com. Besides a full McAfee suite I also bought Adaware Plus SE for a nominal fee. If a site tries something, it slams the door. If it is really bad it slams the door and closes the IE window fast. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 Rick, That's a good option. I like the idea of spyware protection that actually slams the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Spybot, AVG, and SpywareBlaster will do the job for you. I have Yahoo but don't use their security tools. I find them ineffective and a drain on resources compared to better freeware software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share Posted September 30, 2006 Thanks. Yeh. That is ringing true with my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'll put a vouch in on the other side. I ran Symantec products for years and always thought they slowed things way down. Tried the free stuff on Komando.com...ok but not a lot of features like being able to automatically schedule a scan... The ATT Antivirus runs in the background has caught many an inbound transmission and visibly blocked them. It automatically updates everytime I turn my computer on, and runs a scan in the middle of the night daily... The Anti spy is not as good as some, but, one anti spy program is never enough. They all are better at catching different things. I use Microsoft Defender, Lavasoft As-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and the ATT Anti spy. They all catch different stuff. The Parental Controls from ATT are adequate too... You still need a firewall, and I don't believe that the one offered in WINXP is adequate. It blocks incoming, but not outgoing transmissions.... Anyway, just wanted to voice an opinion for the other side...I have been super happy with ATT since I got DSL a couple years ago. Its never down and the service is great for the price... As always...YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Of course, you could always buy a Mac, and not worry about any of it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 My AVG/Grisoft...free from Komando.com is scheduled to run every night...you can schedule scans...AVG has a great rep too...just more grist for the mill Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Everything SBC/ATT does is worthless. I didn't think I could hate a company more than I hated SBC - until they recombined with ATT. Reminds me of their old slogan "reach out, reach out and crush someone." The unresponsive monopoly is back - and worse than ever. One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingys... James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.