A must-have Firefox Add-On

Disconnect is a little smart filter utility that blocks many of the invisible sites that track you online.
I installed it on a friend's annoyingly slow laptop and it sped up the browsing quite a bit.
Pages are loading much faster. It surprised me.



Once installed, a "D" character" will appear in the upper right menubartaskbar. When you click the little "D", this monitor screen appears:
(It displays a few stats, like who's tracking you, and how much bandwidth you're saving)


Install it right from your Firefox browser 'Add-Ons' option, or get it here:
(The site has a quick video that describes how Disconnect works.)
Disconnect

a reply to: ColeYounger

Thanks!

FYI — the same link also has the Disconnect plugin for Chrome.

a reply to: ColeYounger

Is this similar to Ghostery? That and ABE are what I'm currently running on Opera, but Ghostery is available for FF as well.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

It appears to be similar to Ghostery. I installed some add-ons on my neighbor's laptop in the past, including Ghostery.
It didn't speed up the page loading like Disconnect does.
She is seeing some remarkable speed increases on some of her favorite sites.

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So you gotta pay to use this thing? What a rip off...

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
So you gotta pay to use this thing? What a rip off...

No, it's free.

originally posted by: ColeYounger

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
So you gotta pay to use this thing? What a rip off...

No, it's free.

I did the try it first deal...will see how it is...but knowing it being a "trial" not sure how this trial will last for...

a reply to: ColeYounger

I gave you an S&F for this because I did notice my pages loading much faster than usual...this Disconnect thing does seem to work...for now

a reply to: Skywatcher2011
in the box you can put the amount you want to pay. just put $0

a reply to: ColeYounger

Awesome, thanks. I'll look into it.

Hopefully its available for Opera, as I'm just not too crazy about Firefox when I tried it.

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
So you gotta pay to use this thing? What a rip off...

Their terms suggest that since it's open source, you can "contribute to the cause" if you want to.
I don't see anywhere that states outright whether it's 100% free, nor do I see anything about a free trial.

I have seen some browser add-ons that aren't free, but there's always a mention of it somewhere in the terms.

originally posted by: CloudsTasteMetallic
a reply to: ColeYounger

Awesome, thanks. I'll look into it.

Hopefully its available for Opera, as I'm just not too crazy about Firefox when I tried it.

You've probably found this already, but just in case:

Disconnect for Opera

a reply to: ColeYounger

Thanks! Actually, It was one of the top recommended extensions, and as a double bonus, I found out I was running a waaaay old version of Opera and had to update before installing.

It's like a night and day difference with Disconnect running. Great find. Can't recommend it enough.

Now running Ghostery, AB Edge, HTTPS Everywhere, and Disconnect. Anything else good out there you'd suggest?

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I also use BetterPrivacy. (it's 100% free) It removes FSOs (flash cookies). Those tracking cookies can be stubborn.
Some of them NEVER expire. eBay, as one example, has really persistent FSOs.
Some of these types of cookies can be harmful. They're way too invasive on your privacy.

Better Privacy will scrub even the most persistent FSOs from your browser.

BetterPrivacy

Thanks!

This actually works

a reply to: ColeYounger

Thanks. Even though I'm only twenty-something... I might as well be amish when it comes to keeping up with tech. Much appreciated.

I'm currently 17% faster on ATS with this add-on. Which okay, amounts to 0.4 seconds. But still.