Tired of pop-up ads?  Looking to speed up your current Internet connection?  Want enhanced parental controls?

With the iToolbox connection enhancement software - provided free to FBX members - a whole new set of features open up on your standard Internet connection.

To download the iToolbox software, view and set your Connection Enhancement and Parental Control options, log into the Account Access system by clicking here.

Or read on to learn more about iToolbox and what it can do!

What is iToolbox?

iToolbox is a piece of software that allows FBX to offer a much wider range of enhanced services to users regardless of Internet connection method.

In plain English, it's a program that will let your Internet account be able to do things that it normally would not be able to.

What Features Require iToolbox?

The following service enhancements rely on iToolbox being installed on your system:

• Web acceleration
• Web privacy
• Pop-up and ad blocking
• Image reduction
• FBX Family services (such as Site Filtering and Web Review)

(The full list is noted on the FBX Internet Services page, seen by clicking here.) 

What Do I Need to Use iToolbox Services?

Currently, iToolbox is compatible with Windows only (versions 95 and later). 

To use the iToolbox enhanced services, you will need to install the iToolbox client software on your PC.  This is a small piece of software that will tie into Windows to direct Internet data to our iToolbox servers while you are connected to FBX, allowing the enhancements to function.

How Does iToolbox Work?

It all has to do with the iToolbox client program.  Unlike with most programs on your computer, all of the enhancements happen not directly on your computer through the software, but instead on a server on our network.  The key is passing the necessary Web data through this server and then back to your computer.

That's where the iToolbox software comes in.

With a typical Internet setup, your computer dials into your Internet provider and is given an IP address - a location on the Internet.  All data going to and from the World Wide Web is then direct between the individual sites and your PC.

When installed, iToolbox sits as an application on your computers TCP/IP stack - the part of your computer that talks with the Internet.  When activated (by connecting to an iToolbox-powered ISP for example), iToolbox makes a connection to the iToolbox server on our network and pulls Internet data through this server rather than directly from the Internet.

This allows our servers to analyze the data and remove ad and pop-up code as well as reduce image sizes before content ever even hits your web browser.  It's what also allows for filtered sites to be blocked and for logging to be performed if you enable it.

In this process, the iToolbox server is also able to take advantage of the extremely fast Internet connection on our end to preload websites that you are visiting and deliver them in a persistent, controlled connection to your computer - which results in much faster page/image loads and web browsing!

Because most of what iToolbox does is actually on our servers, the iToolbox software for your computer is actually very small (under 200K in size) and is transparent when using it.  All of your settings are done through our server which can be changed via our Account Access system.

Where do I get the iToolbox software?

To download the iToolbox client software, log into the Account Access system by clicking here.