CDNetworks CDN Pro (previously known as CDN360) is a powerful and professional CDN from cloud computing experts CDNetworks, who also offers a host of other high-end cloud services (object storage, media streaming, edge computing, web application firewalls and more.)

CDN Pro scores an immediate thumbs up from us for its vast network of 250+ Points of Presence (PoPs) located all around the world. There's decent coverage for North America and Europe, not so much for Africa and South America, but the real highlight is Asia, Oceania and CDN Pro's extensive China coverage of 70+ cities (even a giant like Cloudflare 'only' has 37.)

CDNetworks uses QUIC (HTTP/3), GZIP and Brotli compression and its own custom technologies to accelerate all kinds of content, from simple static downloads, to dynamic traffic, video streaming and more.

• Want to try CDNetworks CDN Pro? Check out the website here

If you're using CDN Pro in a business, it's likely you'll want several users to have access to the service. We were happy to see that we could add multiple additional users to our account, and assign them custom roles (Admin, Viewer, Operator.) 

You can even enforce two-factor authentication on some or all accounts, though only by using an authenticator app (there's no support for the more convenient, though also less secure SMS or email notifications.)

CDNetworks doesn't try to catch you out with hidden or unexpected charges, unlike some of the competition. You can create as many self-signed or Let's Encrypt TLS certificates as you need, for instance, or use custom certificates of your own. 

Support isn't a paid extra, either, as it is with AWS CloudFront: every customer can ask for help to get the CDN set up, configure it for the best results, or get troubleshooting advice 24/7 via email, telephone or ticket.

Pricing

CDNetworks CDN Pro pricing is partly based on your use of four groups of servers. 'Standard' servers charge a low $0.04 per GB; 'Premium' server traffic is $0.08 per GB; the 'Deluxe' server group costs $0.158 per GB, and the premium 'Ultra' servers cost $0.237 per GB. (The official CDNetworks CDN Pro Pricing Page explains which locations are in which groups.)

There's a second set group of servers covering China. 'Standard in China' traffic charges $0.043 per GB; 'Premium in China' costs $0.079 per GB, and the 'Near China' servers are a significantly more costly $0.938.

Don't be put off by those higher prices. Enabling Ultra servers gets you the best coverage worldwide, but you're only charged the higher rate if a visitor is served content from those Ultra servers. When visitors are nearer Standard group servers, they'll use those, and you'll pay the far cheaper Standard rates. 

CDNetworks also charges a 'CPU Usage' fee of $1.95 for hour. That's unusual, but it's also fairer than the flat per-HTTP-request fee you'll pay with the likes of AWS CloudFront, because customers running complex edge scripts pay more, and if you're just running a simple CDN, you'll pay less.

There's a lot to think about here, and getting even an estimate of your eventual costs can be a challenge. CDNetworks could be significantly cheaper than some providers, though (even Fastly's cheapest North America region costs $0.12 per GB for the first 10TB of traffic) - and we think it's good value overall.

The best way to get a feel for costs is to sign up for the free trial, which gives you up to three months or $50 traffic usage to see exactly how it works. 

There's another cheap starter offering with CDNetworks' Professional plan. Sign up and you'll still pay only for the traffic you use, with a minimum monthly charge of $50. But as we write, you'll get $500 off for each of the first three months, so if your bill comes to $550, you'll only pay $50. That's what we call a good deal.

Setup

Getting started with CDNetworks CDN Pro is easy. We clicked the Free Trial button, and handed over a few very basic details (name, email address and company name, but no credit card or other payment information.) The company sent us a verification email, we clicked the link, and completed the signup process by choosing a username and password.

The CDN Pro dashboard is relatively simple, little more than some empty areas where your CDN reports will eventually appear, and a left-hand sidebar with various options. We found that far less intimidating than the cluttered consoles of some competitors.

The language used on the dashboard – about creating ‘properties’, ‘test suites’, ‘secrets’ - didn't give us many clues on what to do next. Fortunately, a 'View Tutorial' button pointed us to a detailed (though complicated) text guide, and a more novice-friendly video tutorial. We tried the setup process ourselves, and it turned out to be relatively straightforward.

We first created a Property, which specified the origin domain for our content (mysite.com) and the hostname for CDN Pro to accelerate (cdn.mysite.com.) 

We added a self-certified TLS certificate, then deployed the Property to a Staging environment for testing. 

In real-world use, we could then add a Let's Encrypt certificate, deploy the Property to CDN Pro's production servers, update our domain DNS to point the hostname at CDN Pro's servers, and see our website accelerated only a couple of minutes later.

(Check out CDNetworks CDN Pro Support Site for a full description of how this works. If it feels too technical for you, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Video Tutorial link. Even if you've no knowledge of CDNs right now, this clearly shows how little work you have to do to create a basic setup.)

Once you're up and running, the dashboard begins to display reports showing bandwidth use and how well the CDN is performing. 

If you need to know more, a very comprehensive Reports page produces useful charts on traffic, CPU requests, RAM usage, storage and more. You can analyze data in intervals of anything from a month right down to a minute, and we particularly liked the ability to export your data as an image (JPEG, PNG) or PDF.

Elsewhere, simple management tools include options to prefetch content (pre-populate the cache on a schedule, rather than waiting for user requests) or purge it (delete or invalidate cached objects to ensure visitors get the latest version.) Purging isn't 'instant', but we found it typically took only a few seconds, and support for specifying files with regular expressions makes it more flexible than most.

CDNetworks CDN Pro Configuration

CDNetworks sells CDN Pro as a 'programmable CDN', which is great if you need flexibility, but might be a little worrying, if, like us, you've no knowledge at all of NGINX scripting.

The good news is that you don't need any scripting experience at all, at least initially. A Wizard allowed us to choose from a couple of common situations (to optimize for general websites, or downloads/ VOD); we could tweak key values, such as the time to cache objects, in a dialog box, and the Wizard then generated the necessary code. It took us three clicks and maybe five seconds to accept the defaults and set this up.

But, what if we wanted to do something more complex? Look at compression, make sure GZIP was enabled for these file types, disabled for those, and we were using the extra-efficient Brotli compression in the right places?

With most CDNs, you browse down the dashboard, exploring each screen. That makes it easy to discover features like compression, the ability to block requests by country, whatever else the CDN does, and explore those options to find out more.

CDN Pro has very few configurable settings in its dashboard, because it assumes you broadly know what you want to do. That's a problem if you're an inexperienced user, because you may not even know about compression or other features, and CDN Pro doesn't make it easy to discover them.

If you're an old hand with CDNs, though, or you're happy to spend time browsing the documentation and figuring out how the service works, it's a different story. Rather than being forced to wade through multiple screens to find the settings you're after, CDN Pro allows you to create concise code which precisely matches your requirements, and has the flexibility to be easily adaptable in future as your needs change.

Performance

Comparing CDN speeds is a tricky business, as there are so many factors involved. Performance might vary depending on the type of website you have, the platform you're using, the mix of files, your server location, the locations of your target audience, and more.

Fortunately, CDNPerf offers a great starting point, by taking real user monitoring data from billions of tests and calculating average response times in locations around the world.

As we write, CDNetworks is placed eighth out of 19 contenders for worldwide response times. Although that might sound disappointing, keep in mind that CDN margins are very, very small. CDNetworks is only a tiny fraction behind big names like Fastly (7th with 27.55ms), Google Cloud CDN (6th with 27.13ms) and Cloudflare CDN (5th with 27.03ms.) You're unlikely to notice any difference in real-world use.

Worldwide speeds are only the start of the story, and CDNPerf also gives speed results for multiple regions. CDNetworks rated below par in Africa (13th), and an ordinary 8th-10th place in North America, Europe, Oceania, and South America. That's not bad at all, but the real highlight is Asia, where CDNetworks scored second place with an average 23.55ms query speed, leaving providers such as AWS CloudFront (25.71ms), Google Cloud CDN (30.52ms) and Fastly CDN (37.58ms) trailing in its digital dust.

Final verdict

CDNetworks CDN Pro could be a smart CDN choice for demanding users who need maximum control over its traffic handling, and its vast presence in China is another big plus. But it's not easy to configure, and you'll need technical expertise (or a lot of time spent reading the manual) to get the best results.

• We've also highlighted the best CDN

Trellix was formed in 2022 from a merger between cybersecurity titans FireEye and McAfee Enterprise. The company offers a number of network solutions and has been involved with detecting and preventing major hacks.

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) describes it as "A centralized security management platform that helps orchestrate and manage your endpoints, from a single console."

One point of note is that Trellix ePO (hereafter referred to as 'ePO') shouldn't be confused with Trellix Endpoint Security (ENS) or the Trellix Endpoint Security Suite. We e-mailed Trellix twice to request a trial version of ENS but received no response, so decided to review the trial version of ePO instead.

The question still remains though: is ePO one of the best endpoint software platforms out there? Read on to find out more.

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Plans and pricing

Trellix offers a very generous 60-day free trial of all ePO features. Interested parties only need to provide their contact information to receive a confirmation link automatically. 

Unfortunately if you're looking for a per-device cost breakdown, you'll be disappointed as the main product page only suggests you speak to an 'expert'. We felt this was a shame, as we imagine IT Managers would not only like to gain a rough guide to pricing as well as understand payment models e.g. monthly vs annually.

This is all the more confusing, given that Trellix actually does have its own online store, listing prices for various products including Trellix Complete Endpoint Protection for Business for $112.57 per license. This price allows you to use the product indefinitely plus one year of support but it's unclear if the same is true for Trellix ePO.

Although we didn't avail of this option, you can also fill in a contact form to request a demo of Trellix ePO in action.  

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Features

Having distinguished between Trellix ENS and Trellix ePO, we should explain that while ePO is a managed endpoint security solution, it isn't an EPP (Endpoint Protection Platforms) per se. In other words it doesn't contain its own NGAV (Next Generation Antivirus) or standalone firewall. 

We've encountered endpoint security solutions like these before and the best way to describe them is that they're based on the premise of "prevention is better than cure." In other words through regular updates and granular policies, combined with strict application controls threats can't gain a foothold in the first place.

That said, the helpful datasheet on the Trellix website points out that ePO can be used to easily manage the native controls of Windows Defender, so endpoints aren't left helpless in case of infection.

Trellix describes the platform as a "single pane of glass", from which you can view data from multiple sources in a simple interface. Despite the flowery language, it's clear that Trellix have gone to some lengths to display a broad summary of risks, policies and other key data for endpoints.

The platform also boasts "unrivalled threat intel." Specifically it uses Threat Intelligence Exchange (TIE) and Advanced Threat Defense (ATP) integrations to sandbox threats to prevent attacks before they occur. 

The main website also claims that ePO can integrate both Trellix and third-party products. The platform does indeed have a list of other Trellix products and from research online we found users who claimed to have integrated it with Microsoft 365 Defender.

From reviewing the 'main repository' on the ePO platform, we saw agent software was available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Setup

After registering a for a trial account with Trellix, users are asked to create a strong password (over 10 characters, using numbers, upper and lowercase letters and at least one symbol.)

After login you're taken to the 'XConsole' , which began by showing us some of the latest new features. This included the ability to switch between a 'light' and 'dark' theme, an upgraded notifications area and a dedicated Favorites bar.

As impressive as this was, we were unable to go any further. Each time we chose the 'Product Deployment' or 'System Tree' options we saw a message saying, "An unexpected error has occurred". 

This is a concern, as were keen to check how quick and easy it is to deploy agent software on endpoints on behalf of TechRadar readers. We tried to check Trellix's online documentation to make sure we were in the right place to install the agent software and wee directed once again to the 'System Tree' but it failed to load. 

We assumed there must be a glitch on our end, so tried disabling our VPN connection and trying with a different device, only to see the same message. We can only assume that the issue was on the Trellix end, though we encourage readers to register for a trial and try the platform for themselves, as this may well have been a temporary issue. 

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Interface

Despite being unable to set up any managed endpoints, we were still able to gain a good feel for the 'XConsole' interface. We aren't entirely sure why it's not named the 'ePOConsole' but still the main dashboard provides a number of useful infographics of key information such as product deployment incompatibility.

We were especially impressed by the 'Protection Workspace', which displays clear indicators of vital numbers like the number of data protection incidents, resolved threats and escalated devices. This workspace was logically divided between 'Data Protection Overview' and 'Compliance Overview'. From here you can also access other options like the 'Policy' and 'Tag' catalogs, as well as the 'Dashboards'.

We've already mentioned the welcome inclusion of a Favorites bar. This is because the menu option at the top left contains a huge number of other options. Still these are grouped sensibly into categories. For instance the 'Reporting' category lists options to access the Dashboard, Server Log and Audit Task Log.

We particularly enjoyed the 'Trellix Marketplace'. While not integral to the running of ePO itself, it's an excellent way to navigate the various solutions offered by Trellix. The company's "Insights" program caught our eye, as it details real-time threat intelligence. Various extensions like 'Gateway' were also listed, though there didn't seem to be any simple way to integrate them with the ePO platform. 

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Performance

At TechRadar we like to subject products we review to rigorous testing, so that readers can benefit from an unbiased opinion instead of just what you can read in online brochures. Given our difficulties with deployment, we were unable run our usual tests but even if this had gone ahead, it's unlikely that our standard tests would be fair.

This is because when we review endpoint security platforms, we deliberately introduce a fake computer virus and a real one to our test machine to check if the agent software detects and quarantines it.

For endpoint security solutions like ePO this isn't a fair test, as they don't claim to have malware scanning capabilities per se. Still, through careful policy management and application control, it's possible to prevent malware from running in the first place. This particular platform can also apparently integrate functionality from other Trellix/third-party products, though we couldn't see a way to get this working during our (admittedly brief) tests.

We can only suggest that readers take advantage of the 60-day free trial to see if they can set up and deploy ePO on their own endpoints in a safe way.

Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator: Final verdict

Given the difficulties we had setting up endpoint devices, it's difficult for us to cast judgement about how effective a platform Trellix ePO is for managing your organization's own devices. It's certainly a far cry from McAfee MVISION, which by all accounts was a breeze to set up and deploy.

We do know that Trellix has a wide range of endpoint security solutions such Trellix ENS, which do contain features for detecting and preventing threats like malware, ransomware and fileless attacks. 

These products also feature policy control. With all due respect to those security solutions that do use policy controls to prevent threats, we can't help but feel your endpoints are safest when this is coupled by scheduled scans, machine learning and correct firewall configuration. 

This said, Trelli ePO is ostensibly compatible with other products like Windows Defender, so it may be possible to integrate malware detection into the platform. When viewing the online store, we also spied 'Trellix Protect Standard' which can also detect malware threats. Given that Trellix claim ePO can integrate other products, it may be able to scan for threats in-house too.

If, your IT Managers are willing to take the time and trouble to set up Trellix ePO in the this way, it may offer a less resource-intensive solution than traditional EPPs. 

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Since the late Eighties, the name 'Trend Micro' has been virtually synonymous with cybersecurity. 

The Tokyo-based giant is world renowned for its software security solutions. In fact, we recently reviewed the Trend Vision One XDR (Extended Detection and Response) platform and came away very favorably impressed. Indeed, in 2020 the company boasted a 10.5% market share of the endpoint security market - the highest of any organization.

Trend Micro Apex one is another of its creations, which the company claims offers endpoint security through automated threat detection, advanced encryption and application controls. Has Trend Micro really reached the apex of achievement with one of the best endpoint security software platforms? Read on to find out. 

Trend Micro Apex one: Plans and pricing

Trend Micro offers a free 30-day trial of Apex One, with no payment information provided upfront. This is a relief, given that the 'Get Pricing' link on the main product page only leads to a contact form. 

This is a shame as most organizations would no doubt like to gain a rough idea of pricing, as well as what payment plans are available e.g. monthly versus yearly. We were also relieved to see that there's no mention of the 'credits' pricing model used by Vision One whereby credits can be used to pay for licenses and deployment, though it's not made clear how much each one costs. 

Our best and only advice for interested parties is to use the online contact form to contact Trend Micro's sales department and receive an exact quote for your needs.

Trend Micro Apex one: Features

One of the main advertised selling points for Apex One is its advanced threat detection. Key features include pre-execution and runtime machine learning. In other words, the platform should be able to detect and prevent malware even before it has a chance to launch.

Trend Micro also claims that the platform is able to detect more exotic types of attack such as "living off the land" and fileless exploits. It also uses safelisting to reduce the number of detected false positives.

The 'Security Agent' is available for Windows (both 32-Bit and 64-Bit versions) as well as macOS. These are the most common targets for malware but we would have liked to see support for mobile devices too. (In fairness Trend Micro do offer 'Mobile Security' as a separate product to protect Android and iOS devices).

On the plus side, the platform does support file, folder and full-disk encryption. You can manage Bitlocker and Filevault encryption keys as well as set strict policies for device control and data management.

Apex One's application control features allows users to set safelisting/blocklisting to prevent malware from gaining a foothold. It also supports creating dynamic policies based on application behavior. 

Trend Micro also claims the cloud console shows real-time alerts for products, as well as new threats - we were able to confirm this during setup, as after login the console triggered an alert to check our endpoints for a recent exploit.

Trend Micro Apex one: Setup

On the plus side, registering a trial account with Trend Micro to try out Apex One is a breeze. You only need to enter your contact information to receive the custom link to the cloud console. This is a specially created subdomain unique to your organization.  

On first login the console asks you to choose the geographic region for your data center, as well as the product language and time zone. You need to choose wisely here, as the language and time zone can't be changed later.

After registration we were treated to a spinning progress wheel stating that the console was "preparing for first time use". This took around 15 minutes to complete, at which point we received an email to say we could log in.

After we did this, we were pleased to see a comprehensive 'Quick Start Guide', with useful information on topics like Policy Management, not to mention some helpful video tutorials. 

We chose 'Security Agent Download', then chose the correct OS for our Windows 11 test machine. Interestingly the installer is available both as a fully featured agent and one which can co-exist with other third-party security software.

Users are also offered the choice of a web installer (around 3MB) or a standalone installer (around 460MB). 

We initially chose the web installer, only to be told that 'the managed server is generating the Security Agent installation package', which meant we had to try again later. Around 20 minutes after the agent was ready so we downloaded the web installer for 'EndpointBaseCamp'. 

Upon launch the agent opened the console and informed us it was '40% actions completed'. It hung this way for around 20 minutes before prompting us to restart the endpoint device.

Upon reboot, we saw the agent icon in the system tray along with a notification that both 'Smart Scan' and 'Real Time Scan' were up and running.

Trend Micro Apex one: Interface

Trend Micro Apex Central dashboard is quite logically laid out. The main sections are listed along the top of the screen such as 'Dashboard' and users can hover over an option to open sub-menus. For instance, to go to the agent download page, you can move your mouse to 'Administration', then choose 'Security Agent Download'.

Some pages like the dashboard have sub-sections and you can actually add more pages containing only the information you want to see. We were impressed with the overview as is however, given it gives a summary of detected threats, broken down by threat type. (As the dashboard didn't report on the security alerts generated by the Trend Micro Agent, we weren't able to see this in action sadly).

While we're discussing the agent, we were impressed by the minimalist window which can be used to run scans, as well as quickly check which features are enabled. The icons along the bottom are clearly arranged allowing you to unlock the console, view logs and open settings. 

Trend Micro Apex one: Performance

When reviewing endpoint security platforms, our first test is to try to download a fake computer virus, provided by the good people of EICAR. This virus is used specifically for testing purposes.

We opened the Microsoft Edge browser on our Windows 11 test machine and downloaded the fake virus in compressed (ZIP) format. Shortly after the file arrived in the downloads folder the Apex One agent triggered an alert to say the file had been quarantined. We were impressed that it was able to do this, as many EPPs (Endpoint Protection Platforms) we've reviewed only detect the threat once the file has been decompressed.

Curiously, when we logged into the Trend Micro Apex Central cloud, the main dashboard maintained that no threats had been detected.

Our next test was to try to copy a new, real trojan virus to the 'Downloads' folder on our test machine. We do this in order to check that an EPP can detect threats based on suspicious behavior, not just by analyzing file signatures.

Apex One didn't fare as well in this test: we copied the trojan virus onto the Downloads folder but saw no alerts from the agent. We double clicked to run the virus and it did, presumably infecting our test machine. As a last resort we ran an antivirus scan using the Trend Micro Security Agent. It completed but no threats were found. We tried to run a scan on the file specifically using the agent but on right-clicking we saw no option for this. 

Trend Micro Apex one: Final verdict

To Trend Micro's credit, they've clearly gone to great lengths to put together an advanced console with a number of security features. The interface isn't quite as graphically heavy as others we've reviewed but is still fairly simple to navigate.

Setup was very slow - none of the other platforms we've reviewed took so long to set up the console, nor to prepare the security agent for download. In fairness these seem to be one-offs, so it may not be a major concern to users. We were also grateful for how quick and easy it is to register for a trial account as many platforms don't offer this.

We also had hit and miss results with threat detection. The 'test' virus was immediately detected and quarantined, even in ZIP format. However, the agent failed to detect the real virus we'd caught in the wild, even when we actually run it, then asked Trend Micro to run a system scan. This troubled us so much we decided to run a new test by downloading another, real virus. When we ran it, this time Apex One immediately detected it and quarantined the compromised processes and files. The web console still didn't report the infection but at least the threat was contained.

We encourage readers to take advantage of the Trend Micro Apex One free 30-day trial to run their own tests, in the hope you've a better setup and threat detection experience.

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WatchGuard is a US company based in Seattle, Washington specializing in network security solutions including endpoint protection.

The company was first founded in 1996 and their flagship product was a single firewall program. Since then WatchGuard has created any number of security solutions, as well as growing through acquiring other organizations like Madrid-based Panda Security in 2020.

WatchGuard claims its endpoint security solutions offer an intuitive, cloud-based console to manage devices, allowing threats to be detected and prevented simply without the aid of an army of security engineers. We're all for keeping life simple but is this really one of the best endpoint protection software platforms out there? 

WatchGuard EPP: Plans and pricing

The good news is that WatchGuard allows interested parties to secure up to 100 endpoint devices with a 30-day free trial. No payment information is required upfront.

We mention this as this is one of the few points on which we're certain about WatchGuard's endpoint offerings. The site doesn't seem to have a pricing or plan comparison page.

From accessing the free trial and examining the various licenses available, we were able to discover there are in fact a number of solutions: WatchGuard Advanced EPP, EDR, EPDR and 'Advanced' EPDR.

For the sake of simplicity we chose a trial of WatchGuard EPP, though this doesn't tell the full story: users can subscribe to additional 'security modules'. These handle tasks like patch management, full disk encryption and multi-factor authentication. It's not clear if these cost extra but the cloud console does require users to set up a separate license. This is in contrast to other Endpoint Protection Platforms we've reviewed, which usually bundle features like full-disk encryption with a standard subscription.

When we clicked on the 'Activate' button out of sheer curiosity, we found the page failed to load, even after following the website's advice to clear the cookies.

WatchGuard EPP: Features

Having called out WatchGuard for lacking a page comparing plans and pricing, the main website does have a dedicated page and datasheet on WatchGuard EPP itself.

This is where we learned that the NGAV (Next-Gen Antivirus) goes beyond simple signature based antivirus detection (we were able to confirm this) and provides detailed, real-time detection and reporting. The WatchGuard agent is able to "freeze" (quarantine) malware.

Another feature we're delighted to confirm is that the agent software is compatible with a huge range of devices including Windows, Windows Server, Windows for ARM devices, macOS, Android and iOS. This makes WatchGuard EPP by far the most cross-compatible platform we've ever reviewed.

The platform can also provide a managed endpoint firewall though during our tests (see below), the platform seemed content to allow the Windows 11 firewall to manage threats and we saw no reason to tamper with it.

The cloud console itself is proactive about patch management (another feature we trialed), suggesting security updates as soon as our test endpoint was detected.

WatchGuard EPP: Setup

After registering an online account with WatchGuard in order to obtain a free trial, we were asked to select a cloud storage data region. (There's a choice of America, Europe or Asia Pacific). Our advice is to choose wisely as once you make a selection, you can't change your data region.

On first login to our WatchGuard cloud account we chose 'Start a Trial' for Endpoint Security. From here you can choose the specific product and modules you want to try out - in our case WatchGuard EPP and Patch Management. We noted that certain security modules like 'Advanced Reporting Tool' aren't available for the standard EPP solution.

On first login it wasn't immediately clear where to go to set up endpoints but after choosing 'Configure' and agreeing to the License, there was no missing the 'add computers' button in the center of the screen.

This was where we started to encounter issues. The agent software downloaded to our Windows 11 test machine very quickly, but after the installation was supposedly complete the program started 'finishing up' by downloading and installing additional components. Twice the installer hung on the 'Getting knowledge' stage and went no further. Our third install attempt simply terminated halfway through. Finally we reset our Windows 11 test machine to factory settings once again and were able to install the agent on the fourth try.

As readers learned in the introduction, WatchGuard acquired Panda Security in 2020. We assume this to be the reason that the agent software is called 'Panda Endpoint Protection Plus'. We mention this, as we initially panicked thinking we'd installed the wrong product. 

WatchGuard EPP: Interface

The glitchy setup aside, the Panda agent (as we must now call it) opens quickly and offers an excellent overview of both antivirus and firewall settings. Endpoint users can trigger their own scans and view files in quarantine.

However, WatchGuard's cloud console is where the platform really comes to shine. True, we'd have appreciated an idiot-proof "Add Devices" button on first login but the options along the top of the window such as 'Dashboard' and 'Monitor' are clear.

While we're talking dashboards, the main screen provides a very clear view of the number and type of active alerts, as well as a dark web scan for detecting data breaches. Scrolling further down reveals a helpful infographic of your endpoints broken down by type such as 'Protected' or 'Installation Errors'.

If we have one small criticism, it's that the 'Configure' > 'Endpoints' option by default seems to display Security Settings rather than a list of devices. Still, when you click into a device the cloud console provides an excellent, terse summary of key information like the machine name, IP address and last login. There's also a dedicated 'Security' section showing a colored, bulleted list of which features are enabled such as 'File Antivirus' or 'Firewall'.

WatchGuard EPP: Performance

When reviewing Endpoint Protection Platforms, our first test is always to try to download a fake computer virus, provided by the good people of EICAR. 

We opened the Microsoft Edge Browser on our Windows 11 test machine with the 'Panda' agent installed and navigated to the site containing the malware. Although WatchGuard's 'Web browsing antivirus' was supposedly enabled the agent didn't interfere with us loading the website, although Edge itself did try to prevent us downloading the fake virus in compressed (ZIP) format.

We next tried to extract the virus. A few moments later the Panda Agent leapt straight to life and informed us that it had quarantined the threat via a pop-up. We clicked in to learn more information and read a full report as to the nature of the 'malware'.

Our next test was to try to copy a new, real trojan virus that we'd caught in the wild to the 'Downloads' folder of our test machine. We do this in order to make sure that EPP antivirus can detect threats based on file behavior, not just through signature analysis. Sure enough almost as soon as the file was copied to 'Downloads' it was immediately quarantined and removed by the Panda Agent.

Our final test involves logging in to the cloud console to check if the threats had been detected. We went to 'Configure' > 'Endpoints' and clicked into the overall 'Status' but nothing showed in the 'Risks' category. Similarly the 'Security' section of the Status area showed no threats detected by antivirus. 

We were able to remedy this by right-clicking the agent in the system tray and choosing 'sync', at which point the detected threats were shown in a helpful graph. We were also able to click in to view a more detailed list explaining the nature of the two viruses.

WatchGuard EPP: Final verdict

There's no disputing WatchGuard's Panda Agent passed our malware detection tests, though we noticed that it took a few seconds for it to quarantine files. Still, when we ran our tests again to see if we could run the files before the WatchGuard platform could detect the threat we found that even when we ran the virus program, the Panda Agent stopped it in time.

The cloud console itself is very easy to navigate and the menu options are well laid out. Our only critique is that it was a little sluggish when it came to threat reporting, only displaying alerts when we manually synced the software agent.

Despite our best efforts, we couldn't find any issue on our end during setup which would have led to the installer crashing 3 times before working. We used a clean install of Windows 11 in our test machine with no third-party programs installed beside the agent itself. 

On the plus side, WatchGuard offers a 30-day free trial of all its endpoint security solutions, so you have nothing to lose by registering and trying to deploy the agent on your organization's devices. 

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Something has fundamentally shifted in the 3D printing market, with manufacturers suddenly producing machines that have taken a huge leap forward in speed, quality, features and affordability. There's one company more than most that has driven the market forward at such speed, and that's Bambu Labs. 

Now, the company has released the innovative A1 Mini. While the printer's chassis design may not be groundbreaking, where it truly stands out is in its filament management. Courtesy of the AMS Lite system, this printer is capable of handling up to four different filaments, a feature typically reserved for high-end models. Yet, here it's in a relatively inexpensive, user-friendly entry-level model, at least in price and ease of use.

This puts the A1 Mini in a league of its own, especially when you consider its attractively low to mid-range price point. One of the best 3D printers to hit the market, it offers ultra-fast print speeds when using a single filament and maintains excellent print quality throughout. However, multi-filament printing does slow down considerably, but that print quality remains high. 

The printer's price point and ease of use make it well-suited for beginners, although no enthusiast would be disappointed with the outstanding quality and speed of the prints. The A1 Mini sets itself apart not just with its robust performance but also with its forward-thinking multi-filament capabilities. This print might be small, but it should be seen as a landmark in the 3D printer evolution.

BambuLabs A1 Mini: Design

While the Bambu Labs A1 Mini's design may echo the popular configuration seen in machines like the Official PRUSA Mini—with its base housing both the print platform and electronics, complemented by a vertical strut and a horizontal one holding the tool head—the similarities decidedly stop there. Bambu Labs has infused its model with distinct features that set it apart as an innovative piece of hardware.

The printer's tool head makes an immediate impression, punctuated by three dots that highlight the intelligent extruder within. A side shoot containing the filament-cutting blade is another innovative touch. And let's not forget the AMS Lite system, a filament delivery system that, while almost futuristic in its capabilities, still maintains a footprint similar to that of the printer. It's an engineering marvel, managing to hold up to four different filaments for your multi-colour or multi-material printing needs.

Complementing these features is a handy, albeit not smartphone-responsive, touchscreen that offers an easy-to-navigate user interface. More standard design features include the magnetic PEI build platform, which is heated and available in both smooth and textured surfaces, filament run-out sensor and all the usual must-haves for a 2023 printer. The Bambu Studio software adds an extra layer of customisation, allowing nozzle swapping and other configurations.

However, it's worth noting the absence of an enclosure, restricting this feature-packed printer to home and workshop use rather than educational settings. Design-wise, for most people looking for a 3D printer, the A1 Mini is a great fit, easily sitting on a worksurface of about 60cm x 60cm; this will comfortably accommodate both the A1 Mini and its AMS Lite system.

BambuLabs A1 Mini: Features

The Bambu Labs A1 Mini stands out not only for its compact size but also its simplicity and ease of use. Arriving almost completely assembled, bar the odd screw, and completely pre-tuned and pre-squared, you can essentially lift it from the box plug-in and get printing within around five to ten minutes. Once powered up, the automatic calibration covers everything from bed levelling to Z-offset and axis vibration. As the process starts, the tool head and heated bed whirr into action, letting off a high-pitched, almost sonic noise, highlighting the advanced calibration of the system is taking place. 

This out-of-the-box ease of setup and calibration makes it ideal for beginners, offering a complete plug-and-play 3D print solution. The touch screen reinforces this with its intuitive interface, and then there's the App and desktop software that all support the use and function of the printer. 

Perhaps one of the most standout features is the AMS Lite system, which handles up to four different filaments. The setup of this is straightforward as long as you follow the instructions; essentially, there are four filament tubes and two tube lengths that plug into the AMS Lite and then into the tool head. While it matters which tube goes into the AMS Lite, it doesn't matter which of the four holes in the tool head the other end of the tube goes. However, this isn't highlighted anywhere, so an initial leap of faith is needed at this part of the setup, and all was fine. 

Once the filaments are loaded, the selected material is fed through the system automatically once inserted. Then, each filament, when required, is automatically cut and withdrawn, then the new filament is pushed through the system and purged before printing. That process takes time but gains impressive results. Ensuring filaments are doing what they should be doing, the Bambu RFID reader automatic filament synchronisation keeps an eye on the material management. 

The A1 Mini innovates throughout, and the Active Motor Noise Cancellation technology is another feature that stands out and is used to minimise motor noise; the effect of this is like noise cancelling earphones and results in extremely quiet operation. 

The build is solid with all-metal rails and linear bearings, providing added rigidity and should reduce any need for frequent tuning. The A1 Mini also features an advanced filament monitoring system that goes beyond merely checking for filament presence—it measures speed, tension, and pressure, pausing the print if any issues arise. In practice, this system worked extremely well when tested with old and brittle filaments.

The A1 Mini is capable of reaching speeds up to 500mm/s with top accelerations at 10,000 mm/s²; each print begins with a vibration calibration for the X and Y axes. This ensures that every print is as accurate as possible, regardless of the printer's condition or ambient temperature, although that initial buzz does take some initial getting used to.

Another feature that I really like and one that I'm starting to see a little more frequently is the quick swap hotend that can be replaced in a few seconds. Another feature that I really like is the Bambu HMS code system, which is similar to the diagnostic OBD2 system that car manufacturers and garages use. However, in this instance, it's for 3D printers. On the maintenance front, Bambu Labs has ensured that all consumable parts are modular and easy to replace.

BambuLabs A1 Mini: Performance

The A1 Mini distinguishes itself right from the box with an effortless setup process. This out-of-the-box functionality is welcome if you're an experienced 3D printer. It also makes it far more accessible to anyone new to 3D printing, as there's no manual calibration or assembly required.

As you move from setup to actual printing, the A1 Mini largely lives up to Bambu Labs' promises in terms of speed and quality. However, be prepared for the printers to spit out purged filament directly onto the workspace; it's a dirty habit but kind of fits the personality of this small printer.The performance of the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro 3D printer is impressive, but it does have some areas that could benefit from improvement. 

Starting with the positives, the Neptune 4 Pro offers impressive print speeds of up to 500mm/s (recommended 250mm/s). This enables quick prints in roughly a quarter of the time of standard 3D printers, which at the time of writing is generally around the 100mm/s mark. 

The printer's Bambu Studio software provides a relatively intuitive user experience and, for the most part, is easy to use and find your way around. There are a few minor quirks, like finding out how to allocate filaments to model sections, but once you're familiar with these processes, it's all straightforward. 

While the A1 Mini's spec sheet might boast about its low noise levels thanks to 'Active Motor Noise Cancellation,' real-world experience suggests that it's not silent. However, it is quiet and has been happily spitting filament into piles for a few weeks while busying itself with printing models at speed. 

The A1 Mini offers an incredible amount considering its price, especially for those new to 3D printing. It's user-friendly and capable but comes with a few quirks that you can easily overlook, considering just how good this small printer is. 

Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro: Print quality

Bambu Labs A1 Mini: Verdict

The A1 Mini is a machine designed with user-friendliness in mind, making it an accessible entry point for those new to 3D printing. Its out-of-the-box functionality is both its strength and its selling point, eliminating the need for assembly or manual calibration. 

The machine mostly delivers on its speed and quality claims; its first-layer adhesion proved to be outstanding through the test, and the only failed prints were due to using old brittle filament to test the filament management system, which worked perfectly. The printer's noise level was low, although not quite 'whisper-quiet' as advertised. The only real things to really consider with this printer are to be prepared to deal with 'nests' of purged filament, relatively long multi-filament printing times and how quickly you can take delivery of one before they sell out.

The A1 Mini packs quite a punch in terms of performance and quality for its price point and will find wide appeal for both amateur and professional 3D printing enthusiasts.

• Best printers: Top choices for 2D printing at home, in the studio, and office

Owning a PC means owning a complex machine where things can go wrong in many ways. Your computer contains hundreds of hardware components that must work together to function. Software adds further complexity to the process, as any little bug can distort your PC’s ability to operate.

It’s advisable to have a tool that helps identify and fix issues on your PC, and Fortect Protect is one such tool. It works both as a PC optimizer as well as an antivirus to protect your PC from online threats. After downloading this tool, you can scan your PC regularly to detect malware, junk files, missing files, or any other possible threats.

Having Fortect at your side will help keep your PC in good shape, but the catch is that this tool only works with the Windows operating system. What does Fortect offer to users, and how does it work? Our review will let you know.

Fortect: Plans and Pricing

Fortect offers a free version of its tool that lets users scan their PCs regularly. This free tool identifies and fixes problems on your PC, but the number of fixes is limited. The free plan also doesn’t offer direct support.

Fortect charges an annual fee for its paid plan. You can pay $33.95 annually for a single PC license with unlimited scans and repairs. 

You can also choose the Multi-Device plan for 3 PCs, costing $41.95 annually, or the Ultimate plan for 5 PCs, costing $58.95 annually. You can share these plans with your friends, family, and colleagues.

You can pay on Fortect's website through PayPal or a credit/debit card. If you're unsatisfied with the product after paying, you can request a refund within 60 days of your purchase.

Fortect: Features

Fortect utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect security-related issues on your PC, like malware, junk files, crashed programs, etc. This tool is based on the Avira anti-malware engine designed to identify and block malicious software from infiltrating PCs. Avira has a vast database of PC threats that remains constantly updated. It also uses machine learning and behavioral analysis to spot anomalies on computers.

You can download Fortect from the official website (www.Fortect.com) and install it on your PC. Our installation didn’t take long because of this tool’s relatively small size. During installation, you can choose whether Fortect will run an automatic scan afterward or not.

After installing Fortect, you have six menus on the dashboard: PC Profile, Crashed Programs, Malware and PUA, Junk Files, Broken Registry, and Privacy Traces. Let’s dive deeper into these menus below.

PC Profile

The PC Profile is the menu where Fortect gives a detailed overview of your PC. At the top, it’ll list all the hardware specifications of your PC, including the CPU, mainboard, memory, local drivers, and video card.

Scroll down a bit, and you’ll find other important information. You’ll see the available space on your PC, the number of CPU cores, CPU power, hard disc drive speed, and even the real-time CPU temperature.

The PC Profile menu provides detailed information about your desktop or laptop in one spot. Normally, you’ll need considerable time and effort to find this information, but Fortect aggregates and delivers it in a single menu.

Crashed programs

Windows PC users often complain about crashed programs. You’re using an app, and suddenly, it stops working. You’ll have to restart the app to continue using it.

Debugging crashed programs can be challenging, especially for non-technical people with little knowledge about a computer’s internals. But Fortect offers a solution. It scans your PC and identifies programs that have frequently crashed over several months. It then pinpoints the issues with this app.

On our test PC, Fortect identified 18 apps that crashed frequently over several months. 12 were built-in Windows apps, and the other 6 were third-party apps. Fortect will indicate the last time the crash occurred to give you more context. 

We used the premium version of Fortect, which made it easy to fix the identified issues. You can click View & Fix for each app and proceed to resolve the issue. You can also deploy a fix for all apps simultaneously.

Malware & PUA

Malware and potentially unwanted applications (PUA) are major problems for every PC owner. Hackers build sophisticated malware to install on unsuspecting PCs. They can use malware to steal sensitive information from your PC, install spying tools, or lock your files and demand a ransom payment to unlock it, i.e., ransomware.

Fortect helps you detect and fix malware on your PCs before it’s too late. On our test PC, it identified one file resembling a virus. We immediately deployed a fix, which took less than a minute.

Junk Files

Junk files are files that serve no purpose on your computer. They were created to enable your computer to perform a task but became useless after your PC performed that task. Examples include thumbnails, app installers, browsing caches, etc.

Junk files can occupy significant space on your computer and slow it down despite having no utility. The good news is that Fortect helps you identify and delete these files in one swoop.

Fortect found roughly 439 MB of junk files on our test PC. They were mostly temporary log files for different apps. As usual, we used the View & Fix button to solve the issue (by deleting the junk files).

Broken Registry

Every Windows PC has a Registry. This registry is a database of configuration settings for your Windows operating system. It manages the settings for all your applications and ensures things work just as you have configured them.

Fortect scans your PC for defective registry files and lets you fix them. It also checks for missing registry files and replaces them with the correct files from its extensive database.

Privacy Traces

Fortect can trace the browsing data that different apps have stored on your PC. Most of this data would come from your primary web browser, e.g., Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. You can delete the browsing data to preserve your privacy, but note that it may interfere with your browser’s usual function, e.g., you might have to log into all your websites afresh.

Browser Extension

Fortect also offers a Google Chrome extension to protect you as you surf the internet. This extension scans the websites you visit and alerts you if you visit any suspicious websites. It gives detailed reports and logs of your browsing activity, providing insights about the threats you face.

The best thing about the Fortect extension is that it’s free to use.

Fortect: Interface and In Use

Installing Fortect was a seamless process for us. You’ll download the executable file from the official website and kickstart the installation process on your PC. It took just a few minutes during our test. Afterward, you can start scanning or upgrade your plan by inserting the license key you paid for.

Fortect has an intuitive interface that you’d find easy to understand. The dashboard is similar to a web page where you can seamlessly scroll and switch to different menus. It is minimal and uncluttered.

After Fortect identifies issues with your PC, you can fix them individually or simultaneously.

Fortect: Support

Fortect offers direct support via email. If you have any issues, you can fill out the contact form on the official website and wait for an email response. You can also access user guides and FAQs to help solve your issues.

We didn’t see any option for live chat or telephone support on Fortect’s website, which puts it at a disadvantage compared to the competition.  

Fortect: The Competition

Iolo System Mechanic is the main competitor to Fortect that we’d like to highlight. Like Fortect, System Mechanic scans your PC to detect malware, viruses, or other threats. It also helps you optimize your disk space by clearing unnecessary files.

System Mechanic costs as low as $15 annually, making it cheaper than Fortect. It also provides telephone support, giving it a competitive edge over Fortect, which is limited to email support.

Yet, Fortect beats System Mechanic in usability. It has a more intuitive interface than its counterpart.

Fortect: Final verdict

Fortect does its job well. Fortect helps you protect and optimize your PC’s performance for an affordable price. It has a modern, intuitive interface that you’ll likely enjoy using. The little drawback we observed is the limited (email-only) customer support option.

We've listed the best firewall software.

Epic Browser is a popular privacy-centric web browser built on the Chromium codebase and released in 2010. It’s owned by an Indian software company called Hidden Reflex, founded by Alok Bhardwaj.

Along with tons of privacy features, its biggest USP is its simple and approachable interface that makes it easy to use for most people.

In this review, we’ll cover Epic’s features, privacy policies, and pros and cons in detail — know everything you have to before you decide if it's the best browser for you.

Epic Browser: Features

Epic is always in private browsing mode, which means exiting the browser deletes all browser data. The browser is based on Chromium, which the developers claim to have sanitized by removing Google’s tracking code.

Third-party cookie tracking is disabled by default, and its developers claim the browser is well equipped to protect against all kinds of fingerprinting techniques.

Epic’ headline features are its uBlock-based ad-blocker, and the encrypted proxy that encrypts and routes traffic between your computer and the internet, masking your location for added privacy. The proxy has nodes in seven countries including the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

The Epic browser comes with a “Reader” mode that lets you convert web pages into plain text, making it easier for you to skim through the paragraphs. Plus, this mode isn't cluttered with unnecessary ads or images, either. This feature is perfect for you if you want your focus only on the written text with no distractions whatsoever.

In addition to Windows and macOS, the browser is also available for Android and iOS devices. The Android version of the browser offers some additional functions, such as the “Audio Queue” feature that’ll use Android text-to-speech function to read out the text on queued webpages.

Epic Browser: Privacy

The first thing Epic Browser does to keep your online activities private is not store your browsing data.

What's more, all third-party cookies, annoying ads, and even fingerprinting attempts by hackers are blocked — Epic ensures you get a clean and clutter-free environment to work with every day.

Furthermore, it comes with a built-in encrypted proxy that hides your IP address from everyone, making it impossible for anyone to track you.

The browser uses two search engines, with the default being Yahoo. While the browser encrypts all search queries to Yahoo, the search engine, and a few other Yahoo websites, bypass both its proxy and ad-blocker.

If that spooks you, use the browser’s EpicSearch search engine that strips all your personal information before passing on your search query to a search engine. However, EpicSearch comes with a price tag and costs $2.50/month.

Epic Browser: Ease of use

The browser’s interface is the standard fare. There’s a prominent search bar in the middle of the screen. Like Brave, Epic visualizes privacy protections by displaying stats about the number of trackers and fingerprinting attempts it has blocked.

Unlike other browsers, Epic doesn’t ship with a set of favorite websites of its own, and instead gives you the option to plug the ones you visit most often.

Below the search bar, you get links to a few common browser functions. There’s one that’ll take you to the browser’s privacy and security settings, and another to enable/disable Epic’s ad blocker, and encrypted proxy extensions. You’ll also be able to switch to the paid EpicSearch search engine from the dashboard itself.

If you’ve enabled the two Epic extensions (ad blocker, and encrypted proxy), you’ll get buttons to control their behavior next to the address bar. For instance, you can use the encrypted proxy’s icon to change the country.

Next to these plugin buttons, you have a button to toggle the side panel that can either display your bookmarks, or reading list of saved articles and web pages that you can read later or when offline.

Epic Browser: Competitors

Epic seems to be competing on two criteria — usability and privacy. In terms of usability, it isn’t much different from its peers. Thanks to the browser’s Chromium-base, you shouldn’t face any issues switching to it from another browser.

In terms of privacy and user security, Epic is up there with the best. Its encrypted proxy feature is free to use and gives you the option to switch between 7 different countries. Opera’s VPN is free to use as well, but doesn’t offer as many countries. Similarly, Edge too has a free VPN, but it comes with a monthly usage cap.

Similarly, just like Brave, Vivaldi, and Opera, Epic too ships with a built-in ad blocker, and has several protections to thwart attempts to fingerprint you.

However, besides the ad-blocker and encrypted proxy, Epic doesn’t have any extensions of its own. Instead it falls back on its Chromium-base to claim compatibility with virtually all of the extensions of the Chrome Web Store.

Epic also lacks performance settings like the ability to put inactive tabs to sleep that you get with many of the top browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Firefox. It also doesn’t have any AI-powered assistants that are becoming a norm in mainstream browsers.

Epic Browser: Final verdict

Try Epic if online security is paramount. It’s one of the few browsers with a built-in encrypted proxy that hides your IP address. Turning on this feature will make it impossible for your ISP, government officials, or even hackers to follow you around the internet.

The Epic browser is also quite easy to use and comes with a navigable interface.

New users won’t have to muck about its settings to take advantage of its privacy-centric features, which is a definite plus.

However, it’s also important to remember that the browser lacks some of the features that we have come to expect from modern day web browsers, such as an AI-powered assistant. But if you can live without these convenience features, Epic is a good option for privacy conscious users.

We list the best privacy tools and anonymous browsers.