Question for the Moderators

[silverfox55]

It is now becoming obvious from the number of threads and the replies to them that there is a serious problem with the firewall in Ver4, and has been since the Beta release. Have these problems from this formn been reported to ESET and do they know if the company is beginning to do anything about the problem. I have a feeling that if nothing is done soon then the only selling product will be the Anti virus and not the suite.

[The Nodder]

I placed a ticket 2 days ago when I installed the dreadfull program.

[hawki]

Deleted by poster hawki

[a3_alin]

Silverfox55 was right... they have hurried to launch ess v4... they have a serious problem with ess v4...

[NOD32 user]

ESS v4 is working perfectly here - if you have a support question please email support[AT]eset[DOT]com and include as much information as possible in your email and be sure to include a link to this thread either in the body of the email or in the subject (or both).

Cheers :)

[silverfox55]

Even more disgruntled people and still no news from anybody. Either ESET do not have a clue what is wrong and are too scared to admit anything or they have buried their head in the sand and hope it "" goes away "". Or maybe as somebody has suggested the whole company has decamped to the show and drinking too much on expenses.
>:(

[newbie2247]

This is NOT the only forum saying that version 4 was released way too early.

From my surfing around due to my HUGE problems with v4 (I finally had to go back to v3 because it was so bad and still remains unresolved) I am reading in a lot of various places complaints about it (v4).

The general consensus is that v4 is still riddled with bugs. So why did they hurry up and release it I wonder?

Oh well, I really do like ESET and will stay with v3 only for a month or so longer before I raise holy hell about the problems that forced me to go back to v3 when v4 wreaked havoc after installiion and my using all recommended default settings - nothing fancy.

[The Nodder]

I got this reply to my ticket from ESET.
----------------------------

Thank you for contacting ESET Customer Care. If your Local Area Network or peripheral network devices are not functioning properly after the installation of ESET Smart Security, you may need to change the protection mode. The protection mode in ESET Smart Security determines how your computer communicates in a network environment. Please follow the steps below to change the protection mode:

1. Open the main program window by clicking 'Start' -> 'All Programs' -> 'ESET' -> 'ESET Smart Security'.

2. Press the F5 key to open the Advanced Setup window.

3. From the Advanced Setup tree on the left, Click 'Personal firewall' , and then select 'Interactive mode' from the Filtering mode drop-down menu.

4. From the advanced setup tree, click 'Personal Firewall' -> 'Rules and zones'. Click the 'Setup...' button in the Trusted zone section and then choose 'Allow sharing'. Click 'OK'.

5. Click 'Personal Firewall' -> 'IDS and advanced options'. In the 'Allowed services' section, make sure all services are selected. Click 'OK'.

For illustrated instructions, please click or paste the following link from our Knowledgebase into your web browser:

http://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=content&id=SOLN568


If this resolves your issue or if you need further assistance, please let us know by replying to this email.

-----------------------------
I had set ESS V4 with these settings as in the reply.
As I have NOD32 AV V3 now installed I'm not re-installing V4 again just to try those settings because I had it set to those settings.

My V3 and Outpost is working fine.

[funkydude]

Well, if you try it again I'd like to state what I think would be a slightly better solution of a fresh install with no rules and going straight to learning mode for a day or so, then to interactive and see if it works.

[silverfox55]

What a load of tosh. This product is supposed to work straight out of the box. When you start asking non technical people to start changing settings something is seriously wrong with the product.

I notice that NOBODY from ESET has commented on trying to sort the problems or admit to them. This makes me very worried indeed.

[funkydude]

-{ Quote: "What a load of tosh. This product is supposed to work straight out of the box. When you start asking non technical people to start changing settings something is seriously wrong with the product.

I notice that NOBODY from ESET has commented on trying to sort the problems or admit to them. This makes me very worried indeed." }-

...I'm just trying to help...

[pegas]

While I am free of any problems with the new v4 (hope it will last forever ;D), I feel for you guys fighting the v4 to work properly. It's annoying to download a last stable release that doesn't work as should. However the most frightening and unacceptable as well is the Eset's silence and in light of declaration of Mr. Zajac (see snap taken from the support page) it is also quite foolish.
Hope Eset will honestly face up all problems which users are encountering.

[silverfox55]

-{ Quote: "...I'm just trying to help..." }-


I was not meaning you, but the reply given to you by ESET.
My apologies for any offence caused.

[newbie2247]

Are those steps that ESET sent you for firewall settings for Version 4?

I notice the knowledge base link they sent you is 3 years old.

What problems were you having with the firewall?

[1000db]

So according to the KB article just allow everything in your trusted network set to share everything on the trusted network and the IDS will stop shutting of the internet?! This is a temporary fix...right?

[newbie2247]

Yeah, right!

I have a brand new 2 year renewal with ESET and here I am stuck using v3 and totally unable to use v4 because every single time I try to SEND email it won't let me. It gives me an error message telling me that "I am trying to send SPAM". I cannot even send a simple "test" email to myself or hubby. ESET v4 marks it all as SPAM.

Disabling the SPAM module did not help at all. That was very first thing I tried. I feel like I am throwing my good money down the toilet now. What do I do now?

How long do I wait for ESET to fix these bugs and how will I even know if they do? It could be a year. See what I'm so flustered about? I truly don't know what the wise thing for me to do is right now.

I've already been in touch with ESET and all I'm getting back is generic dumb queries - repeating myself over and over. No solution.

Help!

[miki69]

funny thing is after I have reinstalled v4, I don't get firewall problems anymore (connection cut). All of my settings are automatic, even learning mode, strict protection, and so far (day 3) still ok, no connection blocks. I have no idea what was the problem in a first place.

As someone already posted, ESS v4 should be "out-of-the-box" solution, without consumer need to mess around with firewall settings.

Another thing is, I'm afraid if ESET continue to play dull, many users will switch to other solutions (at least for firewall). Let's face it ESS was built on NOD32 glory, until v3 came out I was using NOD32 v2.7 antivirus combined with Kerio (now SunBelt) firewall and it was working like a charm. So I gave a shot to all-in-one ESS v3, even knowing firewall was not as impressive as Kerio's I was totally fine with it, but you know most people are against such "Suites" regardless of the manufacturer. You know what they say "if something bothers you, change it"

Cheers,
Miki

[newbie2247]

Lucky you. I am happy for you.

Now, what do I do? I am clueless and in a very bad (and expensive) place.

Please God, help me.

[1000db]

-{ Quote: "Lucky you. I am happy for you.

Now, what do I do? I am clueless and in a very bad (and expensive) place.

Please God, help me." }-

How long ago did you purchase SS? I've been an Eset customer since early 2.7 NOD32 and have had good experiences with their products and service. It's up to you but you may be able to get your money back (depending on your reseller). I know Sunbelt has a good AV product. you can get excellent fw's for free. I switched back to v3 for now.

[a3_alin]

ess v4 is full of bugs. As I said ... were quick to launch the product and wrong ... Since the beta test I sent some irregularities in the program but did not see that any measure taken ... what is bad is not now nor has any measure ... but not to post anything, and I buy another license for another product... I like ess but... when is good ... not now.
:-[

[hawki]

-{ Quote: "Lucky you. I am happy for you.

Now, what do I do? I am clueless and in a very bad (and expensive) place.

Please God, help me." }-

You can download NOD32 (anti-virus only) with your same license you bought for (Not-so)Smart-Security. There are plenty of solid good free firewalls. ESS Firewall is nothing to write home about anyway.

Or try a 30 day demo of a stand-alone firewall (or another internet security suite). Who knows? Maybe after the 30 days is up ESET may have fixed the major bugs in the program.

[miki69]

Hawki is right. The way I see you have 2 options:

1. use NOD32 with some "light on resources heavy on protection" firewall such as Sunbelt or Tiny Personal or Outpost firewall...
2. go back to ESS v3 until next ESS v4 major upgrade comes, anyhow you already have license.

I mean it's not like v3 is total crap, we've been using it for quite some time. When ESET folks are slow all you can do is to be patient.

ps. I don't feel lucky at all, with this every 20 attempts working update, it's quite annoying. Obviously ESET has done something with update servers...

BR
Miki

[newbie2247]

Thank you!

Excellent idea! I could get a refund for the Spam Module and Firewall, right? Just hang onto the Nod anti-spyware.

I didn't want to say this before but now that the cow is out of the barn, I've often heard/read that ESET's firewall is, how should I put this - no great shakes.

You read so much good and bad about ALL software and programs so after a while one becomes totally desensitized to it all and ignore it. But I have noticed that ESET/Nod32 is not in the top 10 lists anymore. Then again, WHO exactly writes these lists, right?

I hate the thought of "training" a free firewall. God, do I remember those nightmarish times. How can I get around that people? Any ideas?

[newbie2247]

"go back to ESS v3 until next ESS v4 major upgrade comes, anyhow you already have license."

Right you are as this is what I've done. But I don't get mail from them, so how will I know when a v4 major upgrade comes?

Thank You :-)

[1000db]

-{ Quote: ""go back to ESS v3 until next ESS v4 major upgrade comes, anyhow you already have license."

Right you are as this is what I've done. But I don't get mail from them, so how will I know when a v4 major upgrade comes?

Thank You :-)" }-

Check their site often. You can try setting up your updates to always update program components but I've never got that to work (that of course could be a user issue;) ).

[hawki]

-{ Quote: "Thank you!

Excellent idea! I could get a refund for the Spam Module and Firewall, right? Just hang onto the Nod anti-spyware.

I didn't want to say this before but now that the cow is out of the barn, I've often heard/read that ESET's firewall is, how should I put this - no great shakes.

You read so much good and bad about ALL software and programs so after a while one becomes totally desensitized to it all and ignore it. But I have noticed that ESET/Nod32 is not in the top 10 lists anymore. Then again, WHO exactly writes these lists, right?

I hate the thought of "training" a free firewall. God, do I remember those nightmarish times. How can I get around that people? Any ideas?" }-

dunno about the refund [o/O], but V4 is worth waiting for. Initial published tests of the beta say its a quantum improvement over V3 and has been described by one well known tester as being "Awesome."

While I am waiting for a V4 that works on my Vista 64 system (the current V4 totally kills my internet connection) I am using Outpost Pro at the standard (non-advanced) setting. I have not had to train it -- it self-learns with the aid of a large pre-established list of ok programs. If there is not a good version 4 at the end of my trial period I will keep Outpost. I have been very pleased by it and it ranks second only to Online Armor which I can't use because OA is not good on Vista 64.

.

[1000db]

Eset's AV protection is still very good and consistently scores decent in most "tests". If your whole decision is based around their firewall maybe you should wait for a while at least to see what Eset does about it. If you are behind a hardware firewall you shouldn't have much to worry about. Version 3's fw works fine for me until they get v4 fw fixed.

[The Nodder]

-{ Quote: "Are those steps that ESET sent you for firewall settings for Version 4?
I notice the knowledge base link they sent you is 3 years old.
What problems were you having with the firewall?" }-

sorry for the delay.
Yes, they are the steps to try on V4, I already have the program set at those settings.

I've uninstalled V4 & re-installed NOD32 V3 AV & Outpost firewall and I will wait untill V4 is fixed, or I might forget all about V4.

I'm thinking ESET dont care about the firewall program, the only response in the forum was Marcus asking me to list the sites that I could not access which I did and nothing from anyone since.

[silverfox55]

I agree. ESET seem not to be bothered about our problems, so long as they continue to sell to new users. Bo??cks to the existing customers and the problems they have once they have bought the security suite. It is very ominous that we have heard nothing from the company.

[COSMO26]

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=233729

In the above thread in the Beta Forum I posted (9) users names experiencing (& posting about it) Time-outs and/or slow Page Loading. Surely Marcos, Aryeh, etc will relay to proper ESET Support that this is not an insignificant issue, and ultimately something will be done.

Keeping this Thread alive should Help!

[woofa]

-{ Quote: "Eset's AV protection is still very good and consistently scores decent in most "tests". If your whole decision is based around their firewall maybe you should wait for a while at least to see what Eset does about it. If you are behind a hardware firewall you shouldn't have much to worry about. Version 3's fw works fine for me until they get v4 fw fixed." }-

I think this is less true than it was previously. I liked V3 over competition in particular because it virtually never made a false hit. V4 false hits just like a number of other programs. I collected for years items which various AV have given false hits on and now V4 is hitting on them when V3 didn't. I haven't yet had a problem with V4 and the firewall as others are having here but I really am not happy about the false hits becoming part of the ESET AV experience. It's just as important that an AV only hit on actual malware and not something benign (which it can't even specifically identify and only makes a guess at) as it is that it catch true malware.

[1000db]

I agree about the false positives. NOD32 seems to be slipping in that area...an area it has excelled in in the past.