Testing the AlphaShield

We port-scanned the unit using both ShieldsUp from grc.com and Symantecs security online scanner for internet security. The unit resulted in no active responses to any of the probes on the full range of all ports from 1 thru 65535. We noticed that during these tests the internet LED light (Globe symbol above it) flashed red indicating that it was actively blocking all attempts and the unrequested port scan packets from the sites we used. Multiple runs of these tests resulted in a true Stealth return from the websites indicating that we were invisible over the internet as our mchine returned no indication on any of the ports to say that there was a machine at this ip. Kinda like probing a blackhole in space, you get no returns. This result was extremely pleasing to find out and a good result for anyone purchasing the unit, as the AlphaShield definitely provides an effective firewall solution that is truely plug-n-play.

We checked our bandwidth before connecting the AlphaShield using SpeakEasy's bandwidth speed test, and after connecting it to our test system, and found that we did have a slight drop in bandwidth performance as a result of connecting it inline to protect the test system. The cost of slightly lower bandwidth for the total protection though is well worth it. Let me also state that in past tests, it was very hard to find a router or firewall that does not hinder connection bandwidth in some way.

Conclusion
With routers currently available at $50 or less, a price which normally includes four to five 10/100 ports with a built-in switch and that provide essentially the same level of protection, we felt that the AlphaShield's $99 pricing is a tad high.
The AlphaShield can be the ideal solution though for protecting anyone that is not computer savy that you may know and that have their computer directly connected to their broadband connection with its' easy to setup, no software to install, and no interface approach to complete protection.