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Lightspeed Filter

Lightspeed Filter
Formerly Relay

Overview

What is Lightspeed Filter?

Lightspeed Filter (formerly Relay), from Lightspeed Systems in Austin, offers insights to help understand and maximize the use of 1:1 classroom devices, keep users safe and increase the educational return on technology investments. Lightspeed Systems aims to help users…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Lightspeed is highly regarded by users as a reliable and trustworthy web filtering tool that effectively blocks inappropriate websites …
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Pricing

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What is Lightspeed Filter?

Lightspeed Filter (formerly Relay), from Lightspeed Systems in Austin, offers insights to help understand and maximize the use of 1:1 classroom devices, keep users safe and increase the educational return on technology investments. Lightspeed Systems aims to help users make decisions to enhance…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.lightspeedsystems.com/relay/…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is Lightspeed Filter?

Lightspeed Filter (formerly Relay), from Lightspeed Systems in Austin, offers insights to help understand and maximize the use of 1:1 classroom devices, keep users safe and increase the educational return on technology investments. Lightspeed Systems aims to help users make decisions to enhance technology use, report up administrators, present to your board, reassure concerned parents, empower teachers, and direct students on appropriate use. According to the vendor, Lightspeed Filter powers learning on any device, on any OS, and takes minutes to get started.

Lightspeed Filter Features

  • Supported: AI safety threat management
  • Supported: AI YouTube management
  • Supported: Lost/stolen device geolocation
  • Supported: Fast cloud setup
  • Supported: Integration with G-Suite, O365, Active Directory, SIS
  • Supported: Automatic updates
  • Supported: Free training, documentation and support
  • Supported: Anytime, anywhere filtering
  • Supported: AI-driven educational database
  • Supported: Local allow/block lists
  • Supported: Search and social media controls
  • Supported: Flexible settings per group.OU
  • Supported: User-based overrides
  • Supported: Custom block page
  • Supported: After School Rules for simple off-campus filter policies
  • Supported: Filter bypass controls
  • Supported: Lockout controls
  • Supported: Easily allow access to more than 100 mill YouTube videos
  • Supported: Blocks inappropriate YouTube videos/thumbnails
  • Supported: Full reporting on YouTube activity
  • Supported: Easily allow teacher/school channels
  • Supported: Real-time data dashboard
  • Supported: User-level activity reporting
  • Supported: Search, YouTube and Google reporting
  • Supported: Reports of flagged activity
  • Supported: Automated parent reports
  • Supported: Report sharing through secure links
  • Supported: Custom flagged-terms list
  • Supported: Custom activity danger-rating scale
  • Supported: Unsafe activity alerts (daily, weekly, immediately)
  • Supported: Flagged site controls
  • Supported: Audit log
  • Supported: Optional advanced user/group settings
  • Supported: Lightspeed Systems Classroom (classroom management) included at no cost
  • Supported: Optional integration with Lightspeed Systems Mobile Manager (MDM)

Lightspeed Filter Screenshots

Screenshot of Relay dashboardScreenshot of Relay apps reportScreenshot of Relay blocked contentScreenshot of Sample Relay parent reportScreenshot of Screenshot of Classroom, free with Relay for a limited timeScreenshot of Screenshot of Classroom, free with Relay for a limited timeScreenshot of Screenshot of Classroom, free with Relay for a limited time

Lightspeed Filter Videos

Lightspeed Filter Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported CountriesAll
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(17)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Lightspeed is highly regarded by users as a reliable and trustworthy web filtering tool that effectively blocks inappropriate websites while allowing access to K-12 educational material. Users have praised the product's ease of use and responsive customer support. Lightspeed has been successfully implemented across various devices, including iPads, Chromebooks, and staff workstations. Its cloud option has been particularly beneficial during the pandemic, enabling distance learning with content-filtered Chromebooks. The user-friendly interface of the dashboard allows for quick investigation of filtering issues and site categorization. Additionally, Lightspeed integrates well with digital catalogs and provides user-level control for teachers in managing students' digital experiences. By ensuring internet safety compliance and simplifying deployment and management, Lightspeed has proven to be a good fit for K-12 environments.

Relay, an important feature of Lightspeed, significantly improves internet traffic speed, especially for off-site devices, compared to previous solutions. Users have found Relay to offer robust filtering and management features, particularly with YouTube content. Lightspeed effectively filters and monitors web activity, contributing to a safer online environment and preventing VPN client traffic and other workarounds. It offers significant benefits for districts such as content filtering, classroom management, and Chromebook location tracking—especially valuable during distance learning. Teachers appreciate the ease of use in web filtering and the visibility provided for administrators. Furthermore, Relay helps schools keep students focused on their education by redirecting them from aimless internet browsing.

Lightspeed's reporting features have also proven valuable in identifying concerning student searches and addressing potential safety issues. The product enables easy device management and provides insights into internet traffic patterns. Users have utilized Lightspeed to monitor student internet usage, keyword searches, and non-educational activities. With SSL decryption capabilities, detailed reporting options, and safety check features, Relay has garnered praise from users. The ability to filter traffic across different networks has been crucial for distance learning, and Lightspeed's reporting features have provided administrators with insights into Chromebook traffic, flagged keywords, and safety checks. The product's compatibility with Windows agents and the ability to filter remote learners as well as on-campus learners have further enhanced its effectiveness. Through simplified setup and robust report generation, Relay helps schools better manage students' online activity and provides protection from inappropriate content.

Lightspeed Filter has resolved issues related to the filtering of school-owned devices by implementing its own app store with approved app lists. This additional layer of security for networks improves efficiency, manages bandwidth usage, and speeds up internet access. Lightspeed Filter is a secure platform that effectively blocks inappropriate content and allows for monitoring children's activities on the computer.

One key benefit of the cloud-based platform is its better support for student devices compared to previous appliance-based solutions. It offers consistent blocking of all devices with easy deployment, regardless of whether they are on-site or off-site. The product provides granular filtering rules, guiding students to appropriate websites while keeping them away from inappropriate ones. Custom block lists have been effective in reducing game play during class, and there is room for improvement with alerts on specific students to enhance monitoring efficiency.

Lightspeed Relay has proven highly valuable for behavior management by allowing teachers to monitor students' online activities and address any concerns promptly. The product's desktop monitoring and web filtering features assist teachers in keeping students on task and providing remote assistance when needed. Parents have been impressed with Lightspeed Relay's security features as it prevents students from accessing unauthorized sites on school-owned devices.

Lightspeed's integration with multiple products and its ease of management have made it a must-have product for schools using Chromebooks. By streamlining web filtering and reducing web traffic through filtering non-business-related content, such as ads, social media, and casual streaming, Lightspeed Relay helps users concentrate on their tasks. Whether students are using school-owned devices on-site or off-site during the pandemic, Lightspeed Relay effectively filters Chromebooks and ensures a robust web reporting system.

Furthermore, Lightspeed Relay plays a vital role in keeping sites properly filtered while providing guidance on digging into the system and getting results. With the ability to quickly set up filtering for devices outside the network, it provides an additional layer of security for networks. The product also addresses the problem of students accessing inappropriate content on school-owned devices and impresses parents with its security features.

In conclusion, Lightspeed and its Relay feature offer reliable web filtering and management solutions for K-12 environments. With a user-friendly interface, responsive customer support, and effective implementation across various devices, Lightspeed has been praised by users for providing safe browsing experiences for students and staff. Its reporting features and SSL decryption capabilities aid in monitoring student internet usage, identifying safety concerns, and providing valuable insights into Chromebook traffic. Overall, Lightspeed has solved web filtering issues, providing improved protection, and ensuring online safety for K-12 environments. Relay has simplified the process of filtering devices used at home, resolving previous complexities and issues.

Lightspeed's support team is highly supportive and responsive, contributing to a positive user experience. The product is considered reliable and flexible, with new features being introduced based on customer feedback. Lightspeed effectively filters HTTPS traffic, providing an additional layer of security for networks and ensuring a safer online environment.

With Lightspeed Relay, filtering Chromebooks has become a much smoother process, greatly benefiting schools that rely on Chromebooks for student education. It offers easy management of sites for users and works well district-wide. Relay reduces overall web traffic by filtering non-business-related content such as ads, social media, and casual streaming, allowing users to concentrate on their tasks without unnecessary distractions. During the pandemic, Relay has proven effective in filtering student Chromebooks both on-site and off-site.

Lightspeed Relay helps in better protecting users and networks from questionable online content. Its parent report feature provides transparency on students' online activities, giving parents peace of mind. In cases where a filter fails or needs to be replaced quickly, Lightspeed Relay can be set up swiftly to ensure the continued filtering of devices outside the network.

Overall, Lightspeed Filter and its Relay feature have successfully addressed various challenges faced by K-12 environments. This includes reliable web filtering, ensuring safe browsing experiences for students and staff, simplifying device management during distance learning, and providing robust reporting features for monitoring student internet usage. The product's ease of use, compatibility with different devices, responsive support team, and continuous feature updates have made it a valuable tool in maintaining a secure online environment for educational institutions.

Seamless Integration: Users appreciate the seamless integration of Relay, allowing for easy monitoring of websites and identification of blocked sites both on and off campus. This feature has been mentioned by a significant number of reviewers.

Web Filtering Capability: The web filtering capability of Relay is highly valued by users, who find it effective in filtering content on Chromebooks. Many reviewers have praised this feature for its effectiveness in ensuring a safe online environment for K-12 students.

Reporting and Audit Abilities: The reporting and audit abilities of Lightspeed are seen as valuable in monitoring internet usage and identifying trends that require intervention. Numerous users have highlighted the usefulness of the reporting functionality in easily identifying inappropriate content and taking necessary actions.

Challenging Deployment Process: Many users have consistently expressed their frustration with the deployment process of the software. They have found it to be challenging and cumbersome, requiring them to jump through hoops in order to get it up and running smoothly.

Unintuitive Rules Between Environments: A number of users have mentioned that they find the rules between the Google environment and ad environments to be unintuitive. This lack of clarity has caused confusion for users while navigating these different environments.

Lack of Detailed Reports and Export Options: Some users have suggested that the reports provided by the software could be more detailed and offer better export and sharing options. Currently, they feel limited in their ability to access comprehensive information and share it effectively with others.

Users have provided recommendations based on their experience with the products mentioned in the context. These are the three most common recommendations:

  1. Users suggest using the free version of BeanFlumper instead of the full version, running it on your own system rather than relying on the cloud version.
  2. To ensure proper setup, users recommend thoroughly reviewing Lightspeed's documentation and articles in their knowledge base. They also suggest testing the software in your own environment and comparing its features.
  3. Users advise comparing Relay to other filtering systems, specifically noting its superior report options and granular filtering capabilities. They recommend discussing Relay's benefits with Lightspeed and establishing a solid directory before implementing policies.

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
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Damith Low | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
At our organization, we implement Lightspeed Filter to provide an additional layer of security for our network.Lightspeed Filter allows us to work more efficiently and faster, helps us manage bandwidth usage and speeds up Internet access. This is a secure platform, designed to protect our networks, in my personal use, I like to use it to block inappropriate content and monitor my children's activities when they are on the computer.
  • Reduces bandwidth consumption.
  • Improves network performance.
  • It is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
  • It can be implemented in both wired and wireless networks.
  • It can be installed in minutes and you can configure its settings with a few clicks.
  • Learning environments work.
  • Limited customization options.
  • Integration options with other external platforms.
  • Integration options with LMS platforms.
Lightspeed Filter is software that helps us work more efficiently and quickly.This platform helps us protect our access to suspicious content, unsafe websites, etc. In addition, it is recommended to implement it because it helps reduce bandwidth consumption and improves network performance.
It is very easy to use, works very well in learning environments, giving educators full control and a positive experience over students.
Although it does not offer direct integrations with other LMS platforms, it is really good and affordable.
  • URL filtering.
  • content filtering and application control.
  • It can be implemented in both wired and wireless networks.
  • Malware protection and more.
  • Lightspeed Filter is a secure and reliable platform, helps reduce bandwidth consumption and improves network performance.
  • It is easily accessible and low cost.
  • With Lightspeed Filter we can monitor and control network traffic, that is, to customize the access policies to our website to meet the needs of the organization.
DNSFilter and Lightspeed Filter are great web filtering and security solutions that provide businesses with a secure way to filter and protect their network from unwanted content online, both software can be used to protect organizations of any size to block access to certain websites, applications and services, as well as malware and threats.
Joseph Kuzo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We moved to their cloud-based platform to move away from an appliance and support our student devices both in school and at home. It provides additional safety features which have prevented some student harm from occurring as well. We have found that moving to Relay has reduced our overall budget for filtering by purchasing at the time of acquisition for the life of the device. There is no longer a need for a separate agent to allow for off-premise filtering. We do still use their appliance-based filter for guest traffic internally.
  • Student safety
  • Offsite filtering
  • Ease of management and reporting
  • Expanded reporting capability
  • More granular data
Perfect fit for all educational settings. Provides a super simple setup and for Chromebooks, it has been a lifesaver. Having one pane of glass to manage all aspects of student online activity in addition to providing a safety monitoring solution built in to alert us of any bullying, self-harm, inappropriate behavior is something other vendors charge an additional cost for.
  • Ease of use
  • Student safety monitoring
  • Break even on ROI
We were already a [Lightspeed] customer so the transition was seamless to Relay. Their support and team at [Lightspeed] are top-notch. We have been with Lightspeed for over 20 years and have evaluated on occasions other options and [ended] up back with [Lightspeed] each time. Their price point, ease of use, great team of engineers, and overall customer focus keep them on top in my eyes.
November 09, 2021

Lightspeed Filter Review

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The Lightspeed filter is being used across our entire district for web filtering. We use it to separately control filtering for staff and students on both our wired and wireless networks. It handles filtering out unwanted sites and content. It also includes a free safety check filter that alerts us of site and searches identifying self-harm and violence.
  • Filters out content that we do not want students or staff accessing.
  • It allows us to filter by OU, so we can create different levels of filtering for staff and students.
  • Includes a virtual appliance that we can use to filter guest devices and iPads on our wireless network.
  • It sometimes takes longer than expected for new filtering rules to apply.
  • Sometimes a site is blocked due to sub-sites or links, but it does not easily identify the source of the block if it is buried in the site.
  • They have several reports included, but it would be nice to create custom reports.
I would highly recommend Lightspeed for web and content filtering on a network. It definitely does a better job avoiding false positives than our previous filter. The interface is fairly straightforward and easy to navigate. The included Safety Check notifications for self-harm and violence provide a good summary and the notifications link back to the browsing history to provide context.
  • Low level of false positives
  • Ability to granularly set different filtering levels based on user OU
  • Intuitive web interface
  • The ROI we measure with the filter is in student productivity
  • It has reduced the time students have been on non-education sites by approximately 10% over our former filter because it does a better job with site categories (i.e., education games vs games).
  • The included Safety Check feature has helped us improve our response to mental health issues.
The Lightspeed filter has done a much better job with false-positive flagging. We have reduced the number of reported false-positive blocks by about 20% with Lightspeed. The Lightspeed interface is more intuitive and easy to navigate and configure than iboss. The reporting with iboss was a little more extensive than the reporting with Lightspeed.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use lightspeed across our entire district for 100% filtering. It allows us to be CIPA compliant along with maintaining a good security standpoint for malicious websites. It solved the issue of off-network filtering which was a big need for us with remote learning.
  • Easy to deploy
  • Easy to manage
  • Support is excellent
  • Minor feature needs in the dashboard. I have made recommendations.
  • Issues are very minor.
Lightspeed solved several pain points for us when it comes to K12 Content Filtering. We needed an easy-to-manage platform that offered easy reporting, as well as off-site filtering. We need a cloud solution with minimal equipment for our data center. We needed reliable support. All of these goals were accomplished with lightspeed. We are very happy with this product.
  • easy to use
  • easy to deploy
  • reporting
  • All positive.
  • Not a lot of management needed once deployed.
This was a much easier platform to deploy and manage. Simple dashboard navigation. Easy reporting tools. Cross-platform (windows, chrome, apple). The agent used to manage is reliable and simple to deploy. After using all other products over the years this has been the most reliable one. We are very happy with this product.
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Lightspeed is used on all devices at our organization. We use it mainly for filtering and tracking internet usage. Web filtering is required for K-12 schools to allow additional funding through Erate services. Internet safety for students is a #1 priority for out school. This helps protect students on and off site no matter where they are using the internet on our school devices.
  • Traffic Logging
  • Alerts
  • Filtering by groups
  • Reporting
  • MAC OSX Client Compatibility and reliability.
  • Windows Client Compatibility and reliability.
  • Contract and Terms
  • Pricing
Lightspeed web filtering using the Chromebook Relay agent is amazing and does a great job for a cloud filtering solution. The reports that are available are great and can be customized and retains data for 90 days. Reports are easily shared with staff and/or parents for transparency and disciplinary reasons. The agent for Lightspeed (Relay) does not work well with OSX and works okay in Windows, but doesn't allow you to access local IP addresses in the web browser. There needs to be a way to bypass filtering for local network access. This can make it unusable in some cases.
  • Reports
  • Granular filtering levels
  • Ease of use on Chromebooks.
  • Very costly per year
  • Does a great job with 1:1 filtering on Chromebooks
  • Safety Check checks student for possible self harm and alerts staff
Lightspeed has a long solid reputation in the EDU market for web filtering. That being said, they have the largest database of the categorized websites at the administrator's disposal during the configuration and operation. Safety Check is AI-based and Securely uses a live in-person safety monitoring system. Securely can send local authorities to do a welfare check on students because of self-harm-related emergencies. Securly is priced a little cheaper but not too much. Linewiz will be our new system to test.
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), PowerSchool Student Information System, Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
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