Recomendation for SW firewall

[Pfstrong]

HI there,

Usually havent really worried about security, but lately ive been looking into setting up for now just a software
firewall. Of course ive found 3 ive been trying to get some reviews and comments on PCCilling,Norton and Mcafee. Looking for other people in the fields advice, this is a home computer but still like it to be fairly secure at the same time good at catching virus and watching incomming and outgoing connections.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks a ton

Paul

 

[kiddpete]

I've been really impressed with Zone Alarm. It seems to be doing a great job intercepting both inbound and outbound communications, and getting approval before allowing them to proceed. It is also rejecting attempts by unknown Web addresses to connect with it.

 

[computerherder]

I am going to disagree with Kiddpete. Zone Alarm work generally well but I have had several major problems with it recently. Particularly with XP machines. I have lost complete internet connection (even after uninstall) on one machine.

It generally seems alright on 98 machines although I have had a few unexplained crashes of the program. It also tends to strain slow machines. I also know that it does cause problems with broadband problems where the ISP ´pings´ ports to see if you are still operating. I lost connections quite reguarly until I remove Zone Alarm. I know you can setup versions of Zone Alarm to account for it but at the time I was not particularly interested in dicking around with Zone Alarm to do that.

In summary, try it out and see how it goes but be careful and be aware it can cause problems.

 

[Mijjoiji]

Kerio personal firewall works flawless for me, I run it on 4 machines at home, 2 servers. Defenately worth a try mate.

http://www.kerio.com

 

[jfryer]

ZoneAlarm is my 'weapon' of choice and I run XP Home SP1, not a problem, easy to set up, runs without a hitch in silent mode.

Kerio is nice but hard to set up initially I think (well harder then ZoneAlarm anyway)

Each to his own

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There is no magic, only onions
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[SYAR2003]

Also consider Sygate Personal Firewall ..
(free for home use )

http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

 

[aaronjonmartin]

ill throw another vote in for sygate personal firewall. Does everything i need and is reasonably easy to setup, had problems with ZoneAlarm so i wouldnt recommend it, never used kerio though.

"It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem."
Malcolm Forbes (1919 - 1990)

 

[IFRs]

I use Zonealarm on 2 XP machines with no problems. Both are kept updated from the Windoews website.

I have also setup PcCillin's firewall on several Win2000 desktops and laptops (because PcCillin was being used for anti-virus anyway) and it seems to work just fine.

 

[bcastner]

Even the native XP firewall can do a decent job, it depends on what you are trying to protect yourself from, and how "set it and forget it" you want the firewall to be.

An excellent link for advice and comparative feature summaries through additional links:

http://www.petri.co.il/firewall_recommendations.htm

 

[kiddpete]

Just to clarify, I am running Zone Alarm on XP Pro, XP Home, and Win98SE on broadband and dialup to a company network. I have had 'problems' when I forgot I had blocked something. The problems cleared up when I changed the permissions for that software.

 

[bcastner]

kiddpete,

That is the issue with all firewalls. You really need to look carefully on the web site or printed documentation to ensure that you are permitting your legitimate local LAN traffic, and denying the appropriate others.

The likely first result of installing a new software program on a networked computer is that it loses all connection to the network. The native XP firewall will do this as a matter of course. All firewalls have to be configured. Some are easier than others.

 

[linney]

Some more reviews.

http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm

http://www.garykessler.net/library/securityurl.html#firewall

 

[Pfstrong]

Just wanted to thank everyone that is replying, im still reviewing a few of the firewalls but ur help has been great.


thanks again

paul

 

[AP81]

Outpost firewall is my weapon of choice. I have used 12 different firewalls and found this to be the most stable and do the best job. It has also appeared in a couple of PC mags with excellent reviews.

Good Luck

Here is the URL:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/