Firewall Advice

thx, this info has really been helpful, and i have one final question(i hope)

would switching to comodo v3(once its out) from Zonealarm Pro be a good choice, i know zonealarm had better ratings and tests and stuff, but would it be good choice?

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=188033

Zonealarm does not have better ratings. It also does not beat comodo in tests.

 

i said Zonealarm Pro, which is the paid version, not zonealarm free

 

I know.

 

but that thread is about zonealarm free?

 

Oh soz. But comodo still scores higher in matousecs test.

 

anyone got any idea when comodo firewall v3 is coming out?

 

Probably before end of year.

 

has anyone tried the beta? is it stable and reliable, is ther any major bugs that would make it a bad idea to install?

 

It is true. But from my personal experience it passes leaktests well in case it is just installed. After some training it starts to fail some(at least one) advanced leaktests. Unfortunately I do not remember what particular test(s) it fail(s), but I do remember it(they) relate(s) to svchost and explorer. The whole idea was leaktest used the same componet/parent that was used by completely legal program and once was legally allowed it was allowed for the leaktest as well. I think this is why they started to implement HIPS. The only component control is not enough to be reliable and causes a lot of the false positives at the start and some fails later.

 

This only happens when you press remember. Unless it is the bug that has been there forever, where once you block something from using ie it will not allow you to use ie. Fixed in v3 though.

 

I always press "remember" because I hate to have 1-3 popups every time I start my Outlook. And even pressing "remember" I had had such a lot of popups that I gave away reading them as a result

 

so has anyone actually tried the beta? if so is it stable and reliable, and are there any major bugs?

 

Minor bugs. Most bugs are logging issues seeing all the bugs egemen answered.

 

No, it is now just #3.

http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php

 

Cannot access it.

 

Working fine for me.

 

Fixed it. Had to use a proxy Why would my ISP block matousec.

 

Another good choice if you don't want/need HIPS software or plan on installing a standalone is Eset Smart Security. the product is very robust and is hardly noticeable in terms of resourses consumptio. It has a good firewall, antispam module and the brand new Nod V3 engine.
I did the beta testing and now that it has been releases I'm intending to keep it.
It is paid but as you said money is not an issue...
Check the Eset forum here at wilders for more info.

 

how simples to use is the firewall?

 

Very simple and for what I have seen very efective. I'm sending a screen shot of the alerts interface, as you can see you can allow or deny traffic, ovciously but you can also do so permanently or temporarily. Also you can define a port Local or remote, IP of destination/source for the traffic and an order to the firewall to Log/notify the user.
It is really simple to use even for a novice user.
But if you don't want the hussle of configuring it the firewall comes with an automatic mode that will do all for you, allowing outgoing communication and filtering incoming, thus protecting the sistem from unauthorized acces.

 

well seems pretty good, id like to see some sites or some people posting test results, like the ones on sites doing leaktests and other various tests