Free Firewalls

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by JerryM, Jun 30, 2006.

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  1. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    Considering that there are at least two relatively new firewalls, Jetico and Comodo, I am wondering which firewalls are simple enough to use out of the box with little tweaking, and also which ones are free?

    With the AV suites having their own firewalls, which ones would you recommend for one without the desire or knowledge to configure it, and also which free ones?
    I am using LookNStop on one system and Kerio 2.1.5 pretty much out of the box on the other.

    I am thinking that Comodo has a free version and wonder how it would do out of the box.

    Thanks,
    Jerry
     
  2. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    I only can say that Comodo PF is a very nice firewall, and the developers are working very hard to improve it even more and add new great features...
    Is much easier to use than Jetico, but the new beta of Jetico maybe will be release in the middle of July...
     
  3. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Most of the rule based firewalls will take at least some minimal amount of tweaking and fussing with to get right. So LnS, Jetico, Kerio, Filseclab and similar may need a little work. The ones that typically take little effort out of the box are ones like ZA, Sygate, or perhaps Outpost. But in general, any firewall will need at least a little effort on your part to make secure and safe.
     
  4. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    Comodo firewall works well out of the box for me.
    Tru Stealth rating at grc.com also.:thumb:
     
  5. Morley44

    Morley44 Registered Member

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    Safety.Net 3.61 by NetVeda is light on resources and works good on my machine.
     
  6. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    Thanks for the replies.

    I think I might try Comodo, except I hate to go through the "questions and answers" process again.

    Best,
    Jerry
     
  7. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    USA still the best. But barely.
    For a free fw. None easier than Sygate. Discontinued but still available & imo still the best free fw.
     
  8. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Hi, its, best. I wonder such a nice firewall and is free for life time.
     
  9. Eldar

    Eldar Registered Member

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    Don't know about Comodo, but FilseClab was one of the easiest firewall I ever tried. It comes with predefined rules, so you don't have to do a lot. :cool:
     
  10. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Comodo is a firewall heavy weight that turned firewall world upside down.
    They certanly did a fine job and constantly improving. You'll certanly be hearing more about them in the future:D
     
  11. Jarmo P

    Jarmo P Registered Member

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    Firewall situation is going to change when Windows Vista arrives and people move to use that OS.
    Currently my faves are Kerio 2.1.5 with 6MB memory usage and zero CPU with my amd athlon 2400.
    And Sygate 5.5.2710, about 8 MB memory usage and 0 .. 3 % CPU. Mostly zero. A bit more features than kpf, but not as flexible as a rulebased firewall, being more of a hybrid kind.

    Those are lightweight ones. Good packet filters. I don't need any hips or application control.

    Sygate is easy. Kerio needs some work as you need to build the ruleset, but good starting one is BlitzenZeus's one.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2006
  12. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    One problem of Filseclab, is the fact that is always use CPU, even when isn't necessary...
     
  13. beetlejuice69

    beetlejuice69 Registered Member

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    Comodo passes all leak tests oob. It`s still a little heavy on resources but they are improving. It`s also got a great rule section for playing if you need to.
     
  14. b00sfuk

    b00sfuk Registered Member

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    I've read this before but on my system it sits at 0% CPU when idle (and not much more under large transfers). Can you qualify any more? I've tried many other (free) firewalls over time but have always come back to Filseclab.
     
  15. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    Doesn't have a great outbound protection compared with another firewall, the default rules aren't prepared to stealth the system...

    Search on this forum about that...

    But if you like it and works fine on your system, you should stay with it... ;)
     
  16. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I remember this happened to me also last year when I first tried Filseclab. But I recently installed it again a month ago to have a look, and strangely enough, there was no cpu issue anymore. Runs at 0% when idle too. So it possibly might have been some conflict with other software at the time.
     
  17. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    Did you check the installation file date?

    Isn't a good thing if it have problems with another programs that origin this issue...

    I think that it's a nice firewall, but still lack some improvements and we haven't any news about when they will be made...
     
  18. Stem

    Stem Firewall Expert

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    Hi JerryM,
    From these two (both are free),.. Jetico (not a newbie firewall, last release 12 months ago), is really aimed at user who know some TCP/IP,.. and unless you have some basic understanding of TCP/IP rules firewalls, you should avoid, or find time to learn. For "out of the box", comodo is o.k. I personally do not like its default of "allow all out",.. BUT,.. it does now include a lot of "leak" prevention, and even if a user gives an application "Allow all" for the application rules, the lower "network rules" will stop any inbound connection attempt.
     
  19. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Hey V_C, well, it was sometime last year, that's all I can remember. I don't have the file here anymore now to check. If I remember right, there was also a small "update" that the author released and I applied, which was supposed to fix a few problems in his last release. I wrote a few times to him and mentioned the cpu issue, his response was to try to disable logging and it should go away. I did, and it didn't. So then he suggested I try another firewall cause he had no idea what the problem was. So I did. :D

    Anyway, last time I installed both it and the patch a few months back, the cpu issue was gone, which was odd since it was the same installation and patch that I used before. All I can imagine is some kind of conflict, but I don't really know... It was a nice firewall, and I liked it pretty well, a few shortcomings I think but all in all kinda nice. But you're right, there's no sign of any updates, and I wouldn't hold my breath either.. ;)
     
  20. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    :D

    At this moment, about firewalls, I only like (CHX + AppDefend), Comodo PF and Jetico PF...
    They are free and excellent...
     
  21. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    For me, comodo is very good out of the box. As with all firewalls there is a little bit of configuring to do but its not too hard if you have a little firewall experience. Jetico is a little harder to configure and can be a pain in the ass if you don't know what you're doing to begin with (like me lol). But with a little research and practice it seems to be working very nicely now. I'm definitely imprssed with it so i'm sticking with it for now. I used to use sygate but once i realised it couldn't pass many of the leaktests, i decided it was time to change.
    If you want a no hassle firewall then comodo is the way to go, if you want a little more security for peace of mind then jetico is excellent if you know what you're doing.
     
  22. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    For a freebie I am still using Kerio2.1.5. It passes the Gibson tests, and is stealthed. I am not sure why I would need anything else, but maybe Comodo is better in some way. I use LnS on my other computer.

    I do not really understand differences in firewalls.
    It would seem to me if it blocks inbound and outbound traffic, what else is it supposed to do?

    And that leads to my wondering why I would need anything but Kerio 2.1.5? I asks me enough questions as is.:D

    Thanks for the replies.
    Jerry
     
  23. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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  24. 19monty64

    19monty64 Registered Member

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    I wonder how the OutpostFree does compared to OutpostPro?
     
  25. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    outpost free is way old (v1; pro is v3.51 and v4 is in beta) and discontinued. i think they already took it off the agnitum site too.

    although outdated these pages can also help u compare outpost free and pro:

    Outpost PRO vs. FREE
    Compare with others
     
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