help me choose a firewall !

1. a lightweight firewall, just working like kerio 2.1.5. no need to have a lot of other functions to impact on the network latency.
   
2. any similiar function like kerio --- "block all incoming connection when kerio is not started"
   
   OR
   
   sygate --- "block all traffic while the service is not running"
   
   I consider this is very important.
   
3. free
   
4. excepting sygate and kerio.

 

ghostwall maybe? i dont know if it qualifies for option 2 however. looknstop also qualifies with the exception of option 2.

 

I was using Neveda. Very light on resources. Since a reformat I'm trialling the latest Kerio

 

If you don't find what you're looking for, you could always disable your internet connection (via hardware or software) before shutting down or
rebooting.

Also, you can't always judge a firewall's processing speed by looking at just how much memory or CPU it uses. I've seen some "heavy" firewalls that don't impact this at all and you may find some light ones that do. Sometimes it just takes a tweak or two, or shutting down unnecessary parts of the firewall.

 

KERIO 2.15 is done admirable for my machines for a few years now, continues to do the job with absolutely no issues.

I did trend a little toward CoreForce but it's late alpha only and not even really beta even though they make that claim. Does bear watching though when it becomes more stable and useful.

 

kerio 2.1.5 will cause BSOD sometimes, I don't know exactly about this. But it did in my PC.

I have tried core force but it's more than a firewall, a great deal of policies ,anyhow, it is not suitable for beginner or those who do not want to spend a lot of time to config.

 

Yeah i been testing CoreForce steadily this week and is giving my unit all sorts of problems. I think they gone a little too extreme with way too many permissions or else they need yet to stablize the resources it uses so it doesn't lay too heavy on PC performance. Slows reaction time on my apps and windows noticably.

With SSM and KERIO i get the same if not better safety with nowhere near the hit the present build of CF places on the system.

On a side note: I installed Kerio 4.21 and 4.22 and it crashes SSM. K 2.15 works very well alongside SSM on my unit.

 

Hi,
Maybe you could try Jetico.
Very powerful, can also block apps from starting.
Light and robust.
Can be successfully configured to work with ICS.
Have not yet try playing games or p2p with it, but it gives no problem with standard day-to-day Internet. Stealthed fully out of the boxes, passes all leaktests, if that matters to you.
Great improvement since the last builds.
Very good, thorough and quick responses from their support team.
Mrk

 

Does Jetico meet the option 2, i.e., block all traffic while the service is not running?

 

Hi,
As far as I know - yes.
It runs as a service.
Mrk

 

when the jetico is not running, such as booting or shutdown, OS may have been connected to internet, other services can be still vulnerable.

 

I have tried the jetico, yes, I feel it's cool, especially the concept of rule table. and it's light on resources. Is there any support forum for Jetico, esp. the official support forum?

 

Hi,
Check it on their homepage.
They have a support / suggestion box you can fill and send... they reply quickly and efficiently.
Mrk

 

Uh, well, that's YOUR experience. In my experience, it's more than stable enough to be used. Not an 'alpha' at all. I have it installed both at home and at work (so, in a production environment) and there are no problems.

 

Well that's good if it works for you, for me it decidely slows normal operation with apps and such plus is prone to close down upexpectedly.

That might be due to another beta i use in SSM. I noticed after i installed at least 2 later versions of Kerio that SSM was the app that shut down.

I read in another topic here that many of these apps are all competing for the same address areas and so you will see these type problems happen sometimes.

I have no doubt if CoreForce runs well on your platform and stays stable in your system you have a real treat there, but like i said it's not very stable at all for me and so is of no good use for reliable protection.

Cyberhawk, ShadowSurfer, SSM, Kerio, FileChangeAlarm, and InfoProcess......now all of those are very active and my system (Xp pro) suffer no issues or slow downs with this present combo!


More soon to come..................

 

Well, I am not doubting you had problem on your system, what I'm saying is that I didn't have them. That said, the application is still in beta and I think it's everyone's interest (apart from malware distributor's) to improve this excellent protection suite so that the first actual release solves all (or most) compatiblity problems.