ZoneAlarm Slowing Internet?

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by Brandonn2010, May 6, 2011.

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  1. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Last night I had to manually download Service Pack 1 for Windows. It started downloading at about 100KB/s, incredibly slow for me, and rapidly dropped to about 15KB/s. I cancelled it, disabled ZoneAlarm free, and tried again, and got a blazing 2MB/s download speed. So is ZoneAlarm affecting my Internet speed?

    Also, how can I tell if my router has a firewall? It is just a standard Linksys WRT54G router.
     
  2. gery

    gery Registered Member

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    Zone Alarm free will always never effect your download speed as far as i understand. It might be a conflict
     
  3. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Any firewall per definition will slow down your connection since it will filter all your inbound/outbound communications. Normally you don't realise the slowdown since it is minimal or negligible. I would first test with a local file (a file that is with your ISP) to test is not your line.

    Never heard ZA causing slow down from 2MB to 15KB... so this is unlikely linked to ZA. If you are sure its a ZA issue then it can be related to many different issues :

    1. ZA settings are corrupted or incorrect
    2. ZA conflicts with some other third party software in the system
    3. Your network card conflicts with ZA

    For 1 reset the settings and see if there is any difference (ensure your router/LAN is set as TRUSTED in the firewall zones), for 2 boot using MSCONFIG and remove all non-microsoft related services and start-ups to find the culprit of the slow down. For 3 update your network card drivers or try another card.

    ehm... :rolleyes:

    • Open any of your web browser and type 192.168.1.1 (check the manual for the exact IP) in the address bar and press Enter.
    • This will open your Router login page. Login there with your UserID and password.
    • Now go the security Tab.The security tab has only two tabs, firewall and VPN.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2011
  4. King Grub

    King Grub Registered Member

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    There can be huge differences in speed with Microsoft downloads and updates depending on which server you happen to connect to.
     
  5. hank07

    hank07 Registered Member

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    I've used ZA (both paid and free versions) for several years and I've seen slow downs on some occasions.
    On one of those occasions ZA was conflicting with the Avast web shield which scans http-traffic in real time.

    It comes down to systematically troubleshooting the problem by eliminating possible causes.
    As fax mentioned above, ZA could potentially conflict with a number of other services and applications.

    Go about testing systematically and try de-activating ZA and other security applications before you start upgrading drivers, changing settings in MSCONFIG and such.

    First test your speed on: http://www.speedtest.net/. (repeat the test several times to get an average reading):
    -Close all windows and applications except the browser-window that you are using to test from.
    -Choose a server closest to your actual location on http://www.speedtest.net/ to run the test.
    -Write down the test results.

    Test again with ZA shut down and see if it makes a difference.

    If it does make a difference (if your speed improves) then activate ZA again but close down all other real-time security applications and check if your speed improves .

    If it doesn't, it's likely that ZA that is causing the problem.
    If it does, it's probably a conflict of sorts and you will have to troubleshoot further to find the actual cause of the problem by eliminating the real-time security applications and their components one by one and re-testing.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2011
  6. Sm3K3R

    Sm3K3R Registered Member

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    ZA unfortunatelly is a POS.
    It takes ages for your PC to boot ,it s incompatible with most antivirus software and other security apps and it s buggy.
    If you try and use the non free , you will observe the inability to use advanced rules as ZA will start crashing BSOD-ing or whatever .
    Interface is from middle ages and practically it doesn t seem to evolve though we are in 2011.
    It also slows down your connection compared to other firewalls.
    Simply use something else.
     
  7. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Amen... You can close this thread now... LOL :D
     
  8. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Do you think Windows 7 firewall would be enough? I know it lacks outbound protection but I'm not too worried about getting infected and having malware phone home. Also, I've tried accessing our router, but no default login will work, even though we haven't changed the password.
     
  9. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Sure, you will be fine with WIN7. Firewalls nowadays have a minor role into malware prevention and your inbound is anyway covered by the router.

    Next I would reset the router and setup a password, so you will have full control on the firewall and logs. This not before having taken note of your ISP requirements/data in terms of connection (login and password, encapsulation, etc.).
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2011
  10. CloneRanger

    CloneRanger Registered Member

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  11. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    It does include Outbound Protection: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=239750

    Also, there are Windows Firewall Control programs that helps simplify things.
     
  12. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Is there any reason to change the default login for our router? We live out of town where no one will break into it. Can hackers break into it from the Internet?
     
  13. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Its to get control of your router, eventually updated it to the latest firmware (if you never accessed it it is likely outdated) and to be able to configure your router like turning off the firewall or reading your logs.

    Its has nothing to do with weak passwords. But as you seem not very familiar with it is probably better you leave it alone. :)
     
  14. zip

    zip Registered Member

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    Internet speeds can vary greatly, especially cable internet.

    I use Speakeasy to check my internet speed. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

    Also, the speeds at which sites send downloads may vary.

    I have no problems with ZA Free.

    IMHO, ZA Free is the best free fw.
     
  15. zip

    zip Registered Member

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    Sm3K3R,

    Everything you said about ZA is wrong!!!

    If you said the ZA users forum is a POS I would agree with that.
     
  16. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    YEAAH, Amen again :D :D :D :doubt:
     
  17. hank07

    hank07 Registered Member

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    There is always some latency, but with today's broadband connections you shouldn't even notice it.
    If a firewall noticeably slows down your connection then something is wrong.

    You don't seem to be willing however to systematically troubleshoot the problem, so discussing this issue without information from systematic testing is useless.
     
  18. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    I guess it's not a huge deal. My download speeds for other sites are fine, it's just weird that it would affect it so much on Microsoft's site.
     
  19. CloneRanger

    CloneRanger Registered Member

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    But there's broad & broader. Mines not super fast, even though it's capable of 7.2Mbps !

    Maybe ?

    How do you figure that ?
     
  20. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    First you need to test at different times of the day and for a good number of days (your ISP or MS can suffer from congestion depending on the number of users connected). Also you need to ensure no processes on the system are connecting to the internet (that will make your line bandswitch fluctuating). Ideally you would also need to use another line to double check (it can be an ISP problem or a problem of one of the carriers). All of these should be combined with what already suggested by the different users in this thread.

    Finally, I can ensure you that there are no rules in ZA to slow down only MS downloads... :D :D :D

    In simple words: one shot download delay proves nothing and can be misleading on the real causes.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2011
  21. Sm3K3R

    Sm3K3R Registered Member

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    I have had the opportunity to use Zone Alarm Pro for free as i ve got that facebook licence last year.
    I ve tryed it on 2 AMD systems in XP 32 bit.As i will not feed Intel s greed i can t say what happens on Intel rigs.
    I ve tryed 3-4 builds along the time.
    Practically i had
    -Slooowww boot
    -Bandwidth cut more than Outpost could do
    -PC slowdown in non online games
    -latency added in online FPS games
    -crashes when using advanced rules
    -i was never able to use more than 1-2 hours per build test untill it was crashing
    -conflicts with sandboxie and avast and so on

    It really cuts a lot of bandwidth it doesn t cope properly with high speed connections.
    Something that is unusable = POS
    I COULDN T USE IT ! :)
     
  22. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    Yes, we understood... it does not work for you. Here we are trying to help the OP to diagnose the cause of his problem. That seems not related to ZA :)

    May be you could help ZA development team and try the last beta. This will ensure your system configuration is taken into account in the development. Unless is not a common setup found on ZA user base.
     
  23. Escalader

    Escalader Registered Member

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    Just a general thought here.

    I have found that the removal of any security product always seems to speed up my setup.

    SW including security software takes cycles from somewhere.

    Always a balance twixt safety and performance.
     
  24. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    I suggest you re-read the thread.
     
  25. Sm3K3R

    Sm3K3R Registered Member

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    The first post is clear enough.He doesnt need to read again the whole thread :)
    ZA ON = sloooowww internet and ZA OFF = ok speed.

    OP you might increase the speed even more by changing that outdated router to something better as well.
    Practically remove ZA and the router and replace them with something up to date ,so you can have the internet speed you are PAYING for.
     
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