Best firewall.

[suavedude]

Hi,
I thought I might sample opinions about the most effective paid and free firewall softwares out there.
So what d'y'll think?
I currently use Zonealarm. It is quite effective, but I'm getting irritated with it's memory consumption.

 

[MontyAC]

I use Comodo firewall. Seems it has very low memory usage.

 

[blankslate]

I use Comodo Firewall as well.

The installer also includes an AV engine that you can tell it not to include when it installs the firewall (at least when I downloaded it). Make sure that it only installs the firewall components if this is still the case.

 

[Cancer12]

Do I need a separate firewall program besides windows firewall on a server?

 

[John Connor]

+1 For Comodo!

 

[seepy83]

Do I need a separate firewall program besides windows firewall on a server?

That's probably too vague of a question to answer. It really depends on what the server is doing, what kind of data resides on it, etc. The quick answer is that a server should basically always be behind a good hardware firewall, and whether or not you need to run a software firewall (or the Windows firewall) on the server depends on the architecture and security posture of the local network and other hosts on that network.

 

[Cancer12]

Say Server Essentials 2012, single server, file server and domain controller.

 

[seepy83]

Say Server Essentials 2012, single server, file server and domain controller.

And what does the rest of the network look like? Is this home/personal use, or business? Do you have a firewall at the edge of the network?

 

[suavedude]

It seems Zonealarm is "Oldschool," and has passed it's "Sell by" date.
I'll give Comodo a try and report back.

 

[Cancer12]

And what does the rest of the network look like? Is this home/personal use, or business? Do you have a firewall at the edge of the network?

Business, router with firewall at gateway.

 

[George P Burdell]

Avoid Comodo Firewall 6 for the time being, as this new version has a few bugs in it. Stick to the 5.x versions for now.

 

[IlllI]

i will never touch a comodo product ever again after reading their untrustworthy practices

http://forums.comodo.com/general-di...e-certificates-to-known-malware-t39564.0.html

 

[bononos]

Are there any other free alternatives to Comodo that is comparable in quality? I used to use Outpost before switching over to Defender.

 

[John Connor]

http://www.privacyware.com/personal_firewall.html

 

[dominikjames]

I uninstalled Zone Alarm years ago because of the constant pop-up nags.now i am using the Comodo Firewall .It is really good and safe .

• Fast and hassle-free online experience
• Blocks all Internet attacks
• Monitors in/out connections
• Manages traffic on your PC
• Secures all connections when you are online.
• Try this link to http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/

 

[blankslate]

Avoid Comodo Firewall 6 for the time being, as this new version has a few bugs in it. Stick to the 5.x versions for now.

I experienced this when I finally did a factory restore to a laptop. v6 doesn't play nice with the AV I was using.

So I finally gave the Windows firewall another look. You can get windows 7 Firewall control if you like to be notified when a new program is asking for internet access.

I've the built in firewall against port scanners and it seems fine.

If you become familiar with wf.msc firewall configuration tool then it's pretty flexible as far as configuring firewall rules go.

http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/port-scan/
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

I've also tried checking it versus a couple of port scanners and it passed those tests.

So if you don't have enterprise needs and have a modern router that does it's own stateful packet inspection of incoming data between your computer and the modem, then the built in Firewall for windows is probably good enough, for the average use.

~edit~

I haven't yet tested the Windows Firewall on a public hotspot yet and I am wary of connecting to one regardless of the software firewall I am using.

 

[R0H1T]

Outpost 8 is the best in biz as far as paid products are concerned, then for free stuff there aren't very many alternatives so Comodo 6 is your only choice AFAIK !

 

[djDoubleP]

Comodo FTW!

 

[Macgruber]

comodo is really cool

but how the HECk do you get rid of its popup advertisements lol

 

[John Connor]

I have Comodo and don't see pop ups. Maybe that's the new version.

 

[MontyAC]

It's a small popup at the lower right screen just similar to the Avast ones that pop from time to time.

 

[Scooby Doo]

What about the Windows Firewall Control? It manages the built-in windows firewall. Been using it for a couple or so years now.

 

[John Connor]

The problem with lame Windows firewall is that it won't block things like gratuitous ARP frames, won't protect the ARP cache, won't anylize the protocol's. Plus malware can get by it. Use Comodo.

 

[redbleed]

What about the Windows Firewall Control? It manages the built-in windows firewall. Been using it for a couple or so years now.

same

 

[camoxiong]

zonealarm, i have use it for several years now