Software Firewall recommendation
 

Okay, I keep hearing that Zone Alarm is the best thing out there but it seems to block a lot of crap that I enjoy. I'm using the free version now but the professional one you crack has antivirus and spyware scanning that seems useless compared to standalone products and it blocks irc and other programs from working correctly even when you tell it to grant these programs access. It's just retarded. Plus the whole approval thing for both versions is getting old. You figure it would keep tabs on what programs are safe by now.

Anyway, what software firewalls do you recommend?

Sygate 5.5 is much better than ZoneAlarm. :experience:

I've settled on Sygate Personal Firewall after trying out a bunch of software firewalls last summer. I think my main reason was just that it configured to my liking: granting programs access, port control, etc, and it didn't give me any trouble with the internet apps I commonly use. I've since ditched them and went with hardware firewalls.

All software firewall solutions suck. Period.

No, really, they're bloated, don't work as intented and slow down your computer and/or internet connection. If you're behind a router, don't use one!

The one software firewall that really extends the functionality and security of a good hardware firewall is yet to be developed.

I keep hearing good things about Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5 but isn't it like from 2004 and the company doesn't exist anymore or something? Like did Norton buy them out or something? There's something about a security product with that big a lag time and lack of future releases that I don't trust. Maybe 5.5 does the job correctly but I don't know.

Another thing I hate about Zone Alarm is that whenever the product needs to update itself you have to download a new installer and then restart your system afterwards and they like come out with a new version every week or so, so it's very annoying.


Rock, I'd love to use a router while I'm at school but unless I spoof my MAC address their network won't let me online. And even then I lose a lot of abilities I had like apache, ftp, etc. They just don't work when I spoof my MAC address in the router so I need some form of protection when not using a router.

Also, even if I had a router I don't want to use Windows' lousy firewall so Security Center won't stop yelling at me that I don't have a firewall on until I install one or use Windows' crappy one. Is there a way to set up a dummy firewall to shut it up in case I use a router and don't want a bloated software firewall hogging up resources?


Really I still find myself using a software firewall so any more information on Sygate or perhaps even Kerio?

I use Comodo Firewall, which has suited me well since I decided to abandon Zone Alarm Security Suite completely.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Just disable the security center service alltogether like all sane people do. ;-)

Oh I see, go under Change the way Security Center alerts me in Resources and Security Center will shut up. Thanks.

I'd like to keep Security Center since I like automatic updates.

You don't have to disable EVERYTHING in the security center. You can choose to shut off parts, like the Firewall portion. I don't have XP handy, but I know the shut off switch is in a link somewhere in the security center.

In fact, the security center has nothing to do with either automatic updates or the integrated firewall. It just acts like a frontend to access these features and reminds you of their presence (by annoying the hell out of you).

You will still receive automatic updates and be able to use the firewall even with the security center service disabled.

Zone Alarm is best firewall for windows,but I like old version 4.5,new version is totally suck

I've been using Kerio Personal Firewall for a long time now. You have to pay for it, but it was only about 10 quid. It doesn't block anything that I don't want it to block, and it doesn't seem to slow things down that much.

It has a a lot of technical information available within the program to help you monitor your connection, and any intrusion attempts that you might suffer.

Double Post:
I'm behind a router and still use a firewall. I need mine to stop my applications from "phoning home".

Agnitum Outpost

Do you mind explaining what's so good about it? A name is good and I appreciate the help but two word answers are considered spam. Can you tell me about Agnitum Outpost and what makes it better than Zone Alarm, Kerio, etc?

No fans of McAfee Firewall? It's what I use and have had no problems whatsoever with it. It came bundled with their VirusScan and other programs, so I'll use it until it no longer works worth a damn. ;)

Apparently Kerio is no longer free, so in my search for a "solution" I came across Agnitum Outpost, and decided to switch to that instead (although it's not free either).

I will never use Zone Alarm again. ZA processor usage undergoes huge spikes, especially when you have connection intensive programs like bittorrent running. And the interface lags horribly.

One thing about Outpost though, the default settings are rather paranoid, so when it detects a spoofed IP it immediately shuts down all connections for 5 minutes or so. This gets quite silly when you're running torrents and spoofed IPs come up every 10 minutes. You'll have to poke around the settings to get it to behave properly.

I haven't had any problems with ZoneAlarm yet. It's done wonders for me, silently blocking nefarious connections. For programs I run and use, that's all selective by ZoneAlarm. You can go and choose what you want questioned, blocked, or always allowed access. I don't see how it's so much of a problem for things like IRC.

Yeah ZoneAlarm has worked well for me too, I have used 4.x and now using 5.5. During 4.x time I used zonealarm pro and now I'm using the free version. Free has everything I need and pro has lots of annoying extra things that I don't need.

I'm pretty sure there have been some bad ZA versions.. *avoidable* and I imagine that the people who have had bad experiences with ZA used those. I had some problems with some version last year and changed to another.

It is typically less stressful to stick with a well working version like I do... but it is easy to get lazy and not update at all (like I do =P). Hopefully there won't appear any deadly vulnerabilities..

I always avoid all kind of security suites because they tend to be resource hogs (and I don't need that damn anti-virus). I guess the 'better' ZA versions are examples of those, not sure.

Sorry for not being descriptive.

I like Outpost because it has a clean and easy to use interface. It doesn't use much resources. I like the way I can manage the rules that the firewall sets up. A lot of firewall testers give Outpost a high rating for its "leak" level.