Ok, Al. First of all I don’t think that’s a “bitch list”, I think it’s a suggestion list – and a damn good one. Good response in general from Ken, but I agree with you that the “state” of Glasswire should be more clear. Too often, I forget to make manual configuration changes back to normal (like getting out of incognito mode) – those items need more work. To me, initiating operations las is done are ok for an intro program, but for a professional network management tool, there should be automatic “cutoffs” and user controllable “state” options (i.e. until changed, until re-start, until re-boot, time limited, etc.). And, personally, I applaud their use of the Windows Firewall API.
On your suggestions, I basically agree. But for Item 4, I don’t get it. I mostly find extensive drill-down capability (though some items still need it as you say). Also, a “settings” or “configuration” screen/table would be better than local options lists scattered here and there. And the DNS/IP display in Network was an item that I was planning to bring up myself – thanks.
But to me it appears from some of your comments that you may be a new or occasional user of Glasswire (my apologies if I’m wrong). I don’t think you have discovered a lot of the capability and probably have not seen all the discussion here related to some of your suggestions and to most of your issues (excepting the title problem). The Glasswire team has incorporated most user feedback and is clearly working on much more. I’ve been very anxious to get that “major update” we’ve been hearing about. Meanwhile, I’m delighted to get the intermediate updates in response to user requests.
Before I address the “network monitor” aspect, I also want to add a suggestion and a “bitch”. I have commented much on the latest test version now available to those who have requested to be testers. I focus a lot on the “polling” and Network tab as I was one of the first to “complain” about it (that is – once I started using GW). A further request on that topic, is that the Network tab should have an explicit “Refresh” button that does a real-time network poll and display of the known devices. Having to tab away and then back to “sort of” refresh is not good. On the “bitch”, I have already commented a lot about the constant requests to uninstall followed by a clean install. It’s past time that Glasswire has the ability to step back and correct problem interuptions without having to lose months of history (anyone have years?). How valuable is history? Ask Federal investigators who are discovering hacks that go back a year or more. Uninstall and start over is simply bad practice.
As for the network monitoring, I refer back to the discussions of this forum and the many requests intended to provide better monitoring. But as is, I use Glasswire “to help protect your computer by monitoring your network” on a daily basis. Your statement “you only get to monitor traffic local to a single PC even when purchasing the basic license” is not correct – but you must implement remote monitoring to do more. And at this point, far too much manual intervention is needed to succeed. Along with our other suggestions, far better documentation is needed to ensure anyone (newcomers included) can understand the features and functions to appropriately accomplish the needed monitoring. That needs be part of a “major update”. Glasswire is far more complex than it may appear during the early months of use. It has more function and features than are documented anywhere – let alone in a simple instruction page, a blog and a forum. (I just discovered a very useful “new function” last week – after 9 months of use.)
No one should expect to be able to monitor a network with a limited free download. But with proper basic documentation, any new user can fully implement almost all functions and features to assess whether the tool is appropriate for them. With even the paid Basic level – and some undocumented tricks – any home network can be monitored. Pro and Elite levels eliminate the need for tricks. Yet it’s clear and many users agree that there is still a lot of work needed to enable what can be called comprehensive network management (management vs. monitoring).
My home network consists only of two subnets and a variety of Windows, Android and media devices (approx. twelve – one got discovered only yesterday) and, like Glasswire, is a work in progress. With Glasswire, I’ve been able to monitor all 4 PCs, determine sources of excessive usage (by individual and by software), discover a trojan horse, manage throughput and limit the potentially escalating costs of a capped internet service. That’s what make Glasswire worth purchasing. I think I’ve also contributed to the development of Glasswire (because I found it to be the only network monitor I could find that would assess, summarize and clearly display the information I wanted). I will continue to do so. Numerous other users, especially Remah, have also participated. Glasswire is growing – I think we significantly guide that growth.
