Recommend a good firewall!

Siswell 2005-07-25 14:03:15 UTC #1

Was wondering if someone could recommend a good firewall?

Basically i dont trust Windows XP firewall to keep out a bad cold and my old firewall (Zone Alarm) is playing silly bu__ers and wont let me download anything when its running, as such whats the best simplest one out there?

phil1 2005-07-25 14:05:51 UTC #2

outpost firewall pro is best at least that my opinion
very easy to use & configure too but its not free,anyway you can get the trial from
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/

pollushon 2005-07-25 14:16:36 UTC #3

I'll give Sygate Personal a Two Thumbs up. Never once has it let me down and unlike Zone Alarm doesnt interfere with ports and downloads. Sygate Personal Firewall

DiiZzY 2005-07-25 14:45:59 UTC #4

XP's firewall is decent, if you're paranoid get a WRAP with m0n0wall or something.
//Danne

alan1476 2005-07-25 15:37:20 UTC #5

Computer Associates EZ Firewall and EZ Anti Virus

Id33k 2005-07-25 15:40:49 UTC #6

McAfee Firewall

pollushon 2005-07-25 18:26:10 UTC #7

Aside the fact it interferes with some downloads and doesnt prevent 'Phoning Home'.

zevia 2005-07-25 18:58:20 UTC #8

Me too.

my old firewall (Zone Alarm) is playing silly
Which version do you have? For me the Personal is very simple although I can't use it for my (network) setup so upgraded to the Pro. The Expert Firewall tab in the Pro is really cool. Running the Pro version for more than four years in 5 of my pcs within LAN+wireless.

With ZA Pro, I can control almost everything for example set both of sons pc to cut the internet at certain time, run in my w2k3 server, remote desktop, ftp, webserver; and vpn server from office, etc etc. At first it was a pain to set all those things but once you get it, it's cool. Just my 2cents.

DiiZzY 2005-07-25 22:48:14 UTC #9

@ pollushon
As I said, if you're paranoid get a real one (hardware).
//Danne

harley2ride 2005-07-26 07:48:14 UTC #10

On the PC that my kids use, I have multiple firewalls. First one is DSL modem, then DLINK router, then Norton Systemworks, and finally ZoneAlarm Pro. Nothing gets in, and I have no problems with playing networked games from pc to pc, or over the internet. I have had to alter permissions for some games to allow access to certain web sites.

Gurm 2005-07-26 08:58:38 UTC #11

Get a router with NAT. Problem solved.

Seriously, all software firewalls SUCK. They're inconvenient, irritating, and slow down your machine. Just NAT up your box, and nobody can get in. Simple, no?

Donald_Duck1 2005-07-26 10:05:58 UTC #12

umm... a nat router doesn't offer much protection. I use Kerio Personal Firewall the free version and it's been working well for me.
Cheers to all cdfreaks, I haven't been around for a while.

Bjproc 2005-07-26 10:19:14 UTC #13

I use Zone Alarm Pro, not had a problem with it, well not that I know of.

Windows firewall :Z

Quema34 2005-07-26 10:21:30 UTC #14

ZoneAlarm was tested and was among the best, along with the Sygate. Unfortunately, I found ZA to conflict with too many things right after I purchased my year renewal (and they would NOT refund my money), so I ended up deleting every registry entry it put in before it stopped screwing with my system. Norton isn't great and when a virus got past my Systemworks 2003 and I had to pay $29.95 for tech support that didn't help me one bit, I swore them off (like ZA).

I use Trend Micro Internet Security and it has an integrated firewall. Hasn't conflicted with a single thing and it's been excellent (also has FREE tech support!) and straight forward to use. One computer tech I spoke to (the guy that built my computer) has used in with his DSL connection since 3 years ago and never had a single problem with a hacker getting in, nor a single virus problem. That's only 2 people, but it may be something to consider.

Bjproc 2005-07-26 10:27:00 UTC #15

I have read good reviews about Trend Micro I/S 2005, & was thinking about buying it when my norton S/W 2005 runs out

Quema34 2005-07-26 10:35:31 UTC #16

It really is good, BJ. They work very hard to keep their virus definitions up to date and their I/S 2005 uses far less system resources than Norton Systemworks.

I really knew Norton was going downhill when I saw them stop updating their antivirus defs every day like they used to. It then become every 2-3 days if you were lucky. They used to be pretty 'cutting edge' in 2001 and 2002, but if you ever have trouble with it, you're sunk, b/c your 'best option' is to pay them 'per incident,' and that's $29.95--and they may or may not be able to help you. If they can't help you, they keep the money, with no apologies for their product failing to protect your system as it should have. :eek:

Trend Micro's tech support has some of the nicest people (that are knowledgable too) I've ever spoken to. So long as they keep up the great work on updating their protections, I'll keep buying their stuff with no reservations. Plus, keep your Norton S/W box, b/c you can get a 50% off upgrade to buy Trend Micro for one year.

DiiZzY 2005-07-26 11:32:46 UTC #17

NAT provides about the same functionality as a generic software firewall for Windows except for blocking outbound connections. whispers WRAP....
//Danne

Gurm 2005-07-26 11:39:00 UTC #18

I'd like to know what protection a NAT router doesn't offer that a software firewall connected directly to the world does?

A PC running behind NAT is immune to attack from the outside. As far as the rest of the world goes, it just DOESN'T EXIST. The only ports that are open are the ones YOU open.

A software firewall, it's true, provides you with protection against processes running ON YOUR MACHINE, keeps them from making outbound connections. But honestly - do you NOT know what's installed on your machine? I suppose for the average user who needs to clean the spyware off their machine weekly, Zone Alarm or one of these horrid pieces of trashware might be a good idea.

But for those of us who KNOW what runs on their machine, who check the process list regularly, and who have a perfectly good antivirus program and antispyware program... why add ANOTHER layer of software complexity?

Not to mention the irritation factor. "IEXPLORE.EXE IS TRYING TO ACCESS THE INTERNET. IS THAT OK?" Get that message, or one similar, about 100 times and see how much you like your software firewall THEN.

I've never seen a software firewall actually stop a virus, a piece of spyware, or a trojan from monkeying up someone's PC. They just keep those pieces of software from phoning home.

And if your firewall DOES detect viruses, then it's doing too damn much. Jack of all trades, master of none - that's how the saying goes. You have an antivirus program. USE IT. Don't let some piece of software that's SUPPOSED to be a TCP/IP filter also check for viruses. How good a filter can it POSSIBLY be if it's also a virus scanner?

And don't get me STARTED on how anything that filters TCP/IP is just a gigantic CPU hog. Because it is. I run Peer Guardian when necessary, and that's the ONLY piece of TCP/IP filter software that I've EVER SEEN that doesn't use up 20% of my CPU all the dang time.

So please, enlighten me - since I'm invisible to the outside world, and even if they DID try to hack my machine they can't find it or get to it... and since I police my own software... what does a software firewall have to offer in terms of protection that NAT doesn't? Please - clue me in! "NAT doesn't offer very much protection"... against what?

mareke 2005-07-26 12:11:45 UTC #19

I used SurfSecret Personal Firewall (http://www.surfsecret.com/) before I got a modem with a built in firewall and it worked well and was very easy to configure.

fritzi93 2005-07-26 13:31:33 UTC #20

I've used Sygate, Zone Alarm, Kerio. Sygate's nice, ZA is good but annoying. Kerio is excellent for noobs, leave at basic configuration or go to advanced mode and tweak settings if you wish.