My name is Francesco Collini and I am CEO at FlashStart.
We have recently been certified as a "MFM - Made for Mikrotik" software platform and we are proud of this.
I would personally be grateful to receive some feedbacks and also critics (they are always welcome!) about our cybersecurity solution available for Mikrotik.

We would like to improve our integration and DNS security for Mikrotik.
Additional infos are available https://flashstart.com/mikrotik


Thank you so much, with my greatest cheers.
Francesco

Francesco, signed up to give it a go.
Can you please explain to me the benefit of using the DNS provided by FS
Versus something like Cloudfare 1.1.1.2 ( no malware) for example?

What does it bring vs the free NextDNS plan? (or others)?

Hi Zvena, exactly why I asked compared to something like 1.1.1.2 that Cloufare offers.
It appears to also look similar to OPEN DNS family settings but more indepth.

This service or services like this are of no use at all,
as long as the device that the end user uses is not limited by some proprietary software that prevents any alternative means of resolving DNS.

These are all resources and time completely wasted.

What does it bring vs the free NextDNS plan? (or others)?

NextDNS???
"Click and go" on Firefox, is already ready for use...
More simple than this...

But but look where fcollini is from, dont tell me he wants to waste my money??

Francesco, signed up to give it a go.
Can you please explain to me the benefit of using the DNS provided by FS
Versus something like Cloudfare 1.1.1.2 ( no malware) for example?

Dear Anav,
thank you so much for the trial!
FlashStart is one of the fastest global DNS secure platform, according to DNS Perf independent comparison:
https://www.dnsperf.com/#!dns-resolvers

Every platform has pros and cons, obviously.
Regarding FlashStart, I could say we have a very easy-to-manage Dashboard with cool features, such as geoblocking, MS Active Directory integrations, malware threat intelligence, content filter and possibility to extend the protection to remote users through roaming agents. Synchronizing the same protection.

Every blocklist of ours is entirely maintained through our A-I algorhythm and we have a pretty fast human blocklist tuning!

I would be really glad to receive your feedbacks and also critics!

Cheers,
Francesco

What does it bring vs the free NextDNS plan? (or others)?

Dear Zneva,
thank you for posting, it's a very good question.
Honestly, I think it depends on the network scenarios, requirements and market segments.
Free DNS filtering solutions exists, they work and they are good for some scenarios.
Proprietary platforms could be better if you need to protect an Enterprise network and you need a support desk.

We wrote an article comparing free solutions with proprietary ones:
https://flashstart.com/the-case-against ... -business/

Both are good, the network Admin always makes the difference choosing the proper one according to different scenarios.

Cheers,
Francesco

What does it bring vs the free NextDNS plan? (or others)?

NextDNS???
"Click and go" on Firefox, is already ready for use...
More simple than this...

Yes, for a stasndalone PC it's a very good one.
Moreover, if you need to control the whole DNS intelligence in an enterprise network, probably there is the need for a different kind of service..

But but look where fcollini is from, dont tell me he wants to waste my money??

I live in Italy, FlashStart is based in Europe, we have developers and maintaners also from other continents.
We offer a professional global service; a part a free trial,, it's a proprietary platform and we also need to pay the bill!

BTW, I had the pleasure to write this post to share our MFM (Made for Mikrotik) certification and get some feedbacks/critics by Mikrotik admins.
We still have a lot to learn!

Cheers,
Francesco

I knew a guy that talked liked you around here, he was spamming some cloud management service.
As his, yours is shady too.
No prices listed on your website.
No public test servers, no public latency times, no list of servers geo location, nothing.
No.
And I don't know what "Made for MikroTik" has to do with your DNS filtering, you're just using the MikroTik brand to get attention.
Waste of time on your side.
As an admin, nothing from what you're "offering" interests me enough to signup for a trial.

NextDNS is free (and the "only DoH" is already integrated on Firefox, for example, already integrated and ready on other platforms) DNSFilter / NextDNS / Cisco umbrella are faster (your source https://www.dnsperf.com/#!dns-resolvers ... 2022-07-01 )

And 300,000 queries/month FREE still free...

Moreover, if you need to control the whole DNS intelligence in an enterprise network, probably there is the need for a different kind of service..

You need to know what is meant by "enterprise network", for sure it is not the ISPs who do not have every single device of the customer under control,
and of course not even "enterprise network" has it.
Because those who really manage a "enterprise network" do not rely on the first one who passes on the MikroTik forum,
especially with a cloud service that could block the whole network in an instant (without going to look for the reason), or worse...

I knew a guy that talked liked you around here, he was spamming some cloud management service.
As his, yours is shady too.
No prices listed on your website.
No public test servers, no public latency times, no list of servers geo location, nothing.
No.
And I don't know what "Made for MikroTik" has to do with your DNS filtering, you're just using the MikroTik brand to get attention.

Hi Zneva, let me reply point by point:
- speed: you need to choose "Last 30 days" from the DNSPerf comparison menu: https://www.dnsperf.com/#!dns-resolvers
We made important anycast improvements and we are faster than in July
- prices: we do not expose public prices as we only work with Channel Partners. It's a guarantee to respect our Channel
- you can test the latency just after registering the trial using the "Latency test" tool
- we developed a series of scripts and integration, in RouterOS, to activate the filter, synchronize dynamis IPs, creating DNS encrypted tunnels with Mikrotik/OpeVPN if you need to manage NAT-ted locations. We also share strategies on DNS enforcement and redirection using Mikrotik.
- the list of our public servers is online and updated: https://flashstart.com/anycast-network/
- prices: it was not the intention of this post to talk about prices. Simply, I would like to receive feedbacks on the integration and the service.

Francesco

Moreover, if you need to control the whole DNS intelligence in an enterprise network, probably there is the need for a different kind of service..

You need to know what is meant by "enterprise network", for sure it is not the ISPs who do not have every single device of the customer under control,
and of course not even "enterprise network" has it.
Because those who really manage a "enterprise network" do not rely on the first one who passes on the MikroTik forum,
especially with a cloud service that could block the whole network in an instant (without going to look for the reason), or worse...

Usually, an "Enterprise service" is a network scenario involving Company, Governments, K12 Schools where sometime a free solution is not enough.
It depends on the kind of level and SLAs required by the Organization...

Many words, nothing palpable
I see no scripts, nothing to "evaluate" and leave feedback.

Do you miss that the business is related to prices or are you ignoring it?

MikroTik does not sell its products directly, and if you buy them in volume from distributors you also spend 5% less than what is written,
but IS WRITTEN something on site...

If all the others publish them and you don't, there is something that stinks...

For example, DNSFilter for 1 local DNS cache: $1,00/month, NextDNS free until 300.000, then $1,99/month, your service are reported to be $5/month.

All other company are directly involved on prices, instead you have (piramidal?) partners...

Many words, nothing palpable
I see no scripts, nothing to "evaluate" and leave feedback.

I fully accept your critics, I take them into high consideration.
I am just trying to answer, maybe something is not immediately reachable.
Here is a good video, for example: https://flashstart.com/mikrotik-configu ... filtering/

When you Start a free trial, we have different "points" where we gather feedbacks:
- in the online first setup process
- in the mail funnel according to the trial progress.

And I am here too

Cheers,
Francesco

Another lie, your indipendent font say 99.53% uptime (on last 30 days as you write) and on the site is 99,999%
Just 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8 and 9.9.9.9 have 99,98% and you have better network???

Do you miss that the business is related to prices or are you ignoring it?
For example, DNSFilter for 1 local DNS cache: $1,00/month, NextDNS free until 300.000, then $1,99/month, your service are reported to be $5/month.
All other company are directly involved on prices, instead you have (piramidal?) partners...

It's a very good point, we have an internal discussion on this.
Partners have volume discounts, we offer prepaid recharges. The more a Partner recharge, the higher the discount is.
We have three price tiers, according to different continents: Europe/US/Oceania, South Africa/Middle East, South America/Asia/India.
We tried to create different prices based on the average global cost of life. I think it's honest when dealing with different continents and economies.
At the moment, we should locate our global website and display different service prices according to different country visitors.
That's why we still show prices on request...

Another lie, your indipendent font say 99.53% uptime (on last 30 days as you write) and on the site is 99,999%
Just 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8 and 9.9.9.9 have 99,98% and you have better network???

Honestly, we have a reputation, we are not layers.
Tendentially, our service is scaled globally through BGP.
During the network improvement and expansion, it's normal having some downtime (even a few minutes) in some countries/regions.
Dnsperf is really strong and every minutes it checks the service against over 300 check points.

Regarding the 99,99%, I will update our marketing teams.
Francesco

No, sorry, my error, it is much more presumptuous «Distributed worldwide with the guarantee (uptime) of 99.99999% uptime.»
You guarantee ~3 seconds of downtime on one year, and instead from your source, only in the last 30 days it "missed" ~ 12 seconds.

No, sorry, my error, it is much more presumptuous «Distributed worldwide with the guarantee (uptime) of 99.99999% uptime.»
You guarantee ~3 seconds of downtime on one year, and instead from your source, only in the last 30 days it "missed" ~ 12 seconds.

Forgive me, I saw quite every Cloud Services declaring, into the marketing pages, 99,9999% of uptime.
It's a "proforma" for marketing guys.

Here, you can find a Ceo telling: my marketing guys did not get the real result (99,53% - which is globally very very good).
I will submit the correction.

I think it's honest....

Yes, but we here on the MikroTik forum are used to writing "Why didn't you first notice by yourself, there is no one checking what is done"?

Yes, but we here on the MikroTik forum are used to writing "Why didn't you first notice by yourself, there is no one checking what is done"?

I got your point, I am responsible for my Organization.
But it's not possible to check everything; we have departments with team leaders.
People can make mistakes, from my personal stand point, a good Company is one fixing/admitting mistakes and bugs quickly...

[…] I saw quite every Cloud Services declaring, into the marketing pages, 99,9999% of uptime. […]

And therefore, "Quod erat demonstrandum", if you need to "copy" from others, there is no difference between your service and that of others.

Indeed, I'm sure that looking in "your" scripts, I find pieces of my scripts, @msatter, @Jotne and others (which I apologize if I don't list them all) ...

We wrote our scripts, we have a bit of knowledge of Router OS...

How do you integrate and manage the scripts in customers' routers?
What are those scripts doing exactly?
LE: Ok I had to watch some youtube videos (??realy, that's the only "documentation" that you provide?) to get a thing or two about your service.
1. The only scripts that run under RouterOS are only used to track/bind the client IP to the account, so that the settings apply to that requesting IP (?).
2. You only seem to offer classic UDP/53 service, your services can be easily hijacked/blocked.
3. You don't seem to offer any encrypted service (DoH/DoT/etc).

2. You only seem to offer classic UDP/53 service, your services can be easily hijacked/blocked.

Exactly what I think

This service or services like this are of no use at all,
as long as the device that the end user uses is not limited by some proprietary software that prevents any alternative means of resolving DNS.

These are all resources and time completely wasted.

How do you integrate and manage the scripts in customers' routers?
What are those scripts doing exactly?
LE: Ok I had to watch some youtube videos (??realy, that's the only "documentation" that you provide?) to get a thing or two about your service.
1. The only scripts that run under RouterOS are only used to track/bind the client IP to the account, so that the settings apply to that requesting IP (?).
2. You only seem to offer classic UDP/53 service, your services can be easily hijacked/blocked.
3. You don't seem to offer any encrypted service (DoH/DoT/etc).

We also offer DNS over VPN, it's a pretty unique feature in the DNS filtering segment.
We are introducing DoH and DoT by November, although their adoptions, in the enterprise environment, is pretty doubtful since DoH is slower than UDP/DNS.

Honestly, I just posted a feedback request, being become a Made for Mikrotik platform.
I deliberately asked the permission to the Mikrotik support guy who sent me the MFM authorization.

I didn't expect to receive offensive words on our reputation, such as "layer" "money waster", etc.
We work with happy Customers and Partners. Every Company has pros and cons, but I think you should read something more before offending people.

I am available to anser to technical questions, but I willc ordially refuse answering to offenses.

With regards,
Francesco

No, sorry, my error, it is much more presumptuous «Distributed worldwide with the guarantee (uptime) of 99.99999% uptime.»
You guarantee ~3 seconds of downtime on one year, and instead from your source, only in the last 30 days it "missed" ~ 12 seconds.

A lie remains a lie, and it is even worse if you use as justification "every Cloud Services declaring".

About "money waster" who wrote it must answer you.

I think if you don't take some pressure with criticism, this job isn't for you.
This is a forum, and it is obvious that everyone has their ideas and expresses them.
If this topic was just a banner ad, it was all "rose and flowers", che in Italiano hai di sicuro capito, ma in Inglese probabilmente si scrive diverso...

Ti auguro una Buona Giornata.

I think we need to keep the topic, it was technical about the integration and features.
Cordially, Francesco

So why don't you post some technical stuff and leave the marketing aside?
And I'm still waiting on what do you bring to the table to make me switch from the free NextDNS plan.
You're asking us for feedback yet you only brought us fancy marketing words, to that I think we can all agree that it sucks so far.
So please, change our minds.

@Znevna I make a simply technical question, that do not involve pricing.

***************************************************

The service can do a deep packet inspection,
or is limited exclusively to hijack DNS, and allow/forbid IP on one or more address lists?
(Ignoring statistics and other frills)

Excellent technical question rextended. I wondered the same myself. Everyone claims to have these wonderful curated lists but what else does the service do that makes it better...........

Also what is DNS over VPN, as far as I know VPN slows down/reduces throughput substantially?

@Znevna I make a simply technical question, that do not involve pricing.

***************************************************

The service can do a deep packet inspection,
or is limited exclusively to hijack DNS, and allow/forbid IP on one or more address lists?
(Ignoring statistics and other frills)

FlashStart is a DNS filtering platform, including both malware/content protection based on domain categorization and IP blocking tecniques.

So why don't you post some technical stuff and leave the marketing aside?
And I'm still waiting on what do you bring to the table to make me switch from the free NextDNS plan.
You're asking us for feedback yet you only brought us fancy marketing words, to that I think we can all agree that it sucks so far.
So please, change our minds.

Our complete feature page is here:; https://flashstart.com/main-features/
You can find both basic and enterprise ones.

Excellent technical question rextended. I wondered the same myself. Everyone claims to have these wonderful curated lists but what else does the service do that makes it better...........

Also what is DNS over VPN, as far as I know VPN slows down/reduces throughput substantially?

Honestly, we can categorize more than the 93% of the unique domains visited by our users.
Categorization is pretty accurate against dangerous/bad/offensive contents, I think we achieved a very good result
We are still improving "good" domains, such as understanding the difference between a bank and an assurance company domains.
We use A-I based algorhythms on a neural networks.
Then, we analyze the most requested/blocked/allowed domains manually, we have humans for this which make the difference.

And we are quick, I would say, to adjust any submitted reviews.

Regarding the DNS Over VPN: it uses Openvpn/UDP or TCP model.
It's fast because even the VPN runs on Anycast. I would estimate the latency increase not higher than a 3% or 4%, maximun.
If you have multiple Routers going out rhough the same NAT gateway, a DNS over VPN could be interesting to identify queries on destination.
Here is a guide on this: https://cloud.flashstart.com/customerar ... en_kb=1583

I'd be really pleased if you could try the platform in conjunction with a Mikrotik router.
The activation link is here: https://flashstart.com/landing-free-trial
If you send me, privately, your registration email I'd be pleased to add a NFR (not-for-resale) license for 1 year

We love getting feedback and technical critics

Francesco

Ahh okay, I do the same effectively with cloudfare 1.1.1.2 and using either
https://itexpertoncall.com/additional_info/moabpre.html to block access to bad sites........
or
https://axiomcyber.com/shield/

Depending upon budget, the former is the most cost effective method for the layperson, the latter is decent if you write it off as a business expense.

(already registered, good till 13 Sept LOL).

no need to quote preceding post.use "Post Reply"

YES, FlashStart is a cloud DNS service.
It is intended for business/governments/education/ISP organizations.
The scripts synchronize your public IP and let you query the anycast DNS.
And you have both router and remote protection for people in mobility.

There are free services that compete with your secret pricing services.
NextDNS also has a free plan, you can white/blacklist any domain and also use the lists provided by them or not.
AdGuard offers similar services for a known price.
AdGuard Home is free and you can host it yourself with currently superior services (encrypted services like DoH etc).
The well known Pi-hole that you can host yourself, similar to the above.
The last two can run on some MikroTik routers using containers (currently with some hiccups, but I expect the bugs to be polished in the near future), for free!

As I said before, free filtering platform or software (ex. Pi-Hole) are suitable if the Organization has a skilled admin supporting the service. And if there is no need for enterprise features (such as Active Directory integration, Google workspace synchronization, etc).

Free filter service or paid ones?
It depends on the scenario.

We wrote an article:
https://flashstart.com/the-case-against ... iness/amp/

Amazing.
LE: Well, I still see no valid reason to choose FS even for a trial.
And I'm still laughing at your "secure DNS" over the standard UDP/53.
But hey, good luck with your marketing!

use "post Reply instead of Quote

No problem, thank you for the chat.
In case of need, here we are!
Francesco

why prices are hidden?

why prices are hidden?

FlashStart is only distributed by Partner and it is not sold directly.
To access pricelists, we have a web form here: https://flashstart.com/landing-get-quote/
Our platform is not proposed to end users - it's a corporate product distributed by Partner offering a support service, too.

So no feedback possibility in a topic requesting feedback on a product.

As I said before, free filtering platform or software (ex. Pi-Hole) are suitable if the Organization has a skilled admin supporting the service. And if there is no need for enterprise features (such as Active Directory integration, Google workspace synchronization, etc).

Most companies using MT equipment are very price sensitive and have limited resources. So before knowing if your AI DNS service is inside the feasible price range, most users here will not take the time to even have a look at it.
To be honest, I think you miss your target audience by advertising here. This is a technical forum, where peoples mainly have a technical background. And this peoples tend to run away the moment you just bring up marketing stuff while lacking any technical details. Especially with overused buzzwords like "AI on neuronal networks".
Companies requiring AD synch and similar hardly use MikroTik equipment. Your product seems to be competing with things like Cisco Umbrella DNS. Your whole marketing is obviously made to impress big cooperate purchase suits lacking technical background. Claiming five-nines availability in your marketing is a strong warning sign for every technical educated person.

@jbl42

Read the #40 viewtopic.php?p=955078#p954437
"yet another DNS hijacking and IP firewall address list service"
No deep packet inspection = useless DNS hijacking.
Just one click on Firefox and you use NextDNS (or Cloudflare) DoH for free, bypassing any "IA powered DNS 53 hijack"

On Google I have find on some place €5,00 , on other €10,00
nothing close to NextDNS 300.000 queries for free or unlimited queries for $1,99

I use NextDNS as upstream for AdGuardHome running currently on a Raspberry until MikroTik fixes the remaining container bugs in RouterOS.
The 300k queries are enough for my home network, for free.
And yes you can have profiles with different settings in NextDNS for different locations/devices, if you want to.
LE: Container mount permissions seem fixed in v7.6beta4, which means I'll retire the Raspberry soon enough.
So yeah.. there's that.

I use NextDNS as upstream for AdGuardHome running currently on a Raspberry until MikroTik fixes the remaining container bugs in RouterOS.
The 300k queries are enough for my home network, for free.
And yes you can have profiles with different settings in NextDNS for different locations/devices, if you want to.

NICE! That looks like a path forward.

I would be really glad to receive your feedbacks and also critics!

...
We love getting feedback and technical critics
...

A couple of times you've mentioned this but every time someone opposes something, you put the heels in the sand.
And no upfront way to get prices ? So you're actually fishing for contact info ...
Not very commercial, I think. Definitely a no-no from my side.

About this

It requires no additional hardware or software and does not perceivably impact Router performance.

Without technical detail how your service works and what it does, there is no way anyone can verify that claim.
(or did I miss that part somewhere ?)

@JBL42, I am really starting to like the pink blob, excellent post!!

I currently use Flashstart, it has improved since this thread was first posted.
Now in Italy it helps to solve all the legal problems (rotture di scoglio ni).
Well done, nice work.

I use a product called flashstart, but its for starting fireplace fires.........
The key to a winning product is if it offers DPI protection, as there appears to be many such DNS only type based filtering products, thats all they do, some sort of filtering based on someones idea of what the 'best list' is. Making efficient use of MT tools and software is the key to a good product and a reasonable price to automate the process of finding good lists and updating them frequently enough is helpful. The good thing about these products, is that they actually look at your outbound traffic (whereas as most of us dont ), and instead of a blind LAN to WAN rule, have some sort of curated list of bad guys to avoid. Not sure if this catches all the dumb things family members click on etc......... but if they do, then it may be a reasonable approach!!