What is the best firewall?

I am looking for a good firewall that provides good protection and also removes web ads and pop-ups. I thought of getting "look'n'stop", but I don't know if it removes web ads and pop ups. Any recommendations?

Help is appreciated.

 

Just try. There are lots of decent firewalls and most of them have the functions you need and more.
I'm an Outpost user and it does what you need (don't get the free one, it's too old).

Beside looking at the functions, also test the firewalls user interface. It's you who needs to manage the firewall, so you better like the interface.

 

Try Zone Alarm pro the current Beta release is 5.5.035.000, fully compatible with SP2 and most software, there is a 60 day free trial if u sign on to be a beta tester.

Some people have been bagging Zone Alarm recently as it has had some problems with the switch in ownership an initially SP2 compatibility.
The full release ver 5.1 and the bet ver 5.5 have fixed these problems and it is working better then ever.

Beta available here http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/beta#download

 

ZA Pro 4.5.594 is my pick.

 

Creature Nod32-9 and Sweetie,
I use ZAP 5.1.033 just fine, but 4.5.594 is still very good. I just got sick of the window balloon and red shield. So just before my key expired I jumped to ZAP 5. (I did hold my breath). I will not buy any more Zone Labs. Sweetie you are right I did not bag it, but I am going to move on.
Keep a sharp eye here on the Wilders for lots of good advice on firewall protection. I know I am

 

You can find the best information on which is the best firewall here. gkweb the only truth you will ever need.

Make an inform choice as well as sound decision.

 

While leaktest performance is a valid concern, there are other factors to consider too so I wouldn't go by leaktest performance alone. The firewall interface is important as is the level of control - ZoneAlarm Free is as simple as a firewall can be but this simplicity comes at a cost of not being able to define rules for specific applications that need access but which you do not trust completely (Windows Media Player being a prime example).

In addition, some firewalls have other issues - Outpost had problems with HyperThreading and XP SP2's Data Execution Protection though these should now be resolved with version 2.5. Look'n'Stop has a limit on network connections (200 I believe, with stateful inspection enabled) which can cause problems for file-sharers and it needs a separate application (LnSSvc) to provide protection during Windows startup - which does not work with Fast User Switching on Windows XP. Sygate cannot control access to local proxies (like Proxomitron - the ultimate web filter but requires more work to configure fully) so cannot be recommended if you use these.

Ideally, installing a trial version of each one to find the best balance of effectiveness and simplicity is the best answer but this can be time-consuming. Visiting the specific forums to find current issues/problems and downloading the user manuals from the manufacturers' websites is a quicker option and can give an idea of how they operate.

 

Look 'n' Stop Version 2.05 04-11-2004

TCP Stateful Packet Inspection: the maximum number of monitored TCP connections has been set to 128 (instead of 64).

Version 2.05p2 10-05-2004

No-Change.

 

If you want pop up and web ad protection, probably ZoneAlarm or Outpost are the best of the group.

ZoneAlarm won't work on my machine lately, and I can't figure out why. True Vector shuts down and I can't get it to run. I've used older versions before just to see and they were okay. Now, none will function. I personally never liked ZA's GUI.

Outpost is a good firewall that I would recommend, IF you need pop up protection. For me, I now use Visnetic 2.2 as my firewall, and have Firefox as my web browser. Firefox takes care of all the pop up ads. I've recently installed Prevx to deal with the rest (along with my antivirus).

 

The best firewall is the one that you prefer.
There are lots of choices.
You could try some firewalls (one at a time)and see what program you like the best?

 

VisNetic is great, however, it offers absolutely no outbound app control of any kind. Pretty much anything can connect out on remote port 80 if it wants to without any indication to you that it's happening.

I'm currently using Outpost 2.5 and like it a lot...

 

Last week I would not have mentioned this firewall at all but I have been useing it and I like it quite a bit. With a little tweaking it seems to do a great job. I guess I had better mention the name here somewhere. It is NPF, norton personal firewall. I don't care to use norton antivirus but the firewall works great.

 

It does filter ports and addresses both ways, but it doesn't keep track of individual apps and permissions for them to connect out and so on. So it's a nice rule based firewall, but without any app control. If you allow traffic outbound to remote port 80 for your browsers, then ANY other programs can connect out to 80 also. Not really very secure for most users today...

Other than that though, it's a nice firewall. I guess it might be useful more for servers or something like that, where you don't have to worry about someone executing a lot of programs/malware constantly..

 

I have it to on one of my machines that runs with good Command AV and they play nice together too. I have never had a bit of trouble with NPF. Why is it we dislike their AV but like their firewall? I do not know how to answer this if someone were to ask me. Because most either love both or hate both.

 

I highly recomend Look'N'Stop as an IPS firewall, Tiny or BlackIce as an IDS firewall and Giant for there AntiSpyware. BlackIce is nice if you dont want the windows security that comes with Tiny even though it is optional. I have recently been testing these and love both. Kerio sounds like something you might like (as others have suggested).

 

outpost 2.5................................. the best just got better

 

There is no best

 

Too old? Nay, *old* is good. After all, the alternative to *old* is *dead*. Some folks might say that, like OP-free, I also am too old. Ah well... if I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

Back On-Thread -- would you perhaps agree that Outpost-free might be okay if he has a router on duty? That's my set-up: OP-free plus a good NAT router. It has kept my computer's chastity intact for quite a long time.

 

sounds good to me bellgamin. Outpost free is not that bad compared to the other freebies.(it is not a beta and was once a full functional product/payware)

 

Thanks everyone, I installed Outpost 2.5 and after I set it up, it's working great. Yes, the NPF is pretty good I had used it before and was happy, but I wanted to try something else, I am happy to say that I like Outpost better now .

Here is a test I did at PcFlank :

 

That is like asking who makes a better car, Chevy or Ford? But since you asked my vote goes to LnS.

 

If LNS had and IDS and sandbox it would be badass
But even now its awesome

Off the topic: does anyone know of any firewalls that were coded in assembly?

BTW: bellgamin sygate isnt bad either

 

I have tried several Firewalls. My opinion is Sysgate Personal Pro is one of the best. It is not as intrusive like zone alarm or norton's. Easy to configue and monitor inbound/outbound's.

 

I don't think there is a best firewall. With that said, Kerio 2.15 is my favorite. Very light footprint, and it's free. I have used Zonealarm, sygate, outpost,All free versions. Black ice defender, all resource hogs. Look n stop is also a great firewall, but it's not free

If you decide to use kerio 2.15, there is a learning curve, as it's a rule based firewall. If you don't want a rule based firewall, I would highly recommend sygate personal firewall. It's rich in featues. Great logs, back trace, ability to make rules if you want, also has a password protection option.

The best set and forget would be zonealarm. It's tough uninstalling because of the true vector engine. I never had any problems uninstalling it, as some people have. If you want to uninstall zonealarm, just uncheck "don't load at startup. This disengages the true vector engine.Then reboot, and uninstall it using zonealarms own uninstaller.