Which personal firewall do you like the best ?

i have Outpost

 

I only use Zone Alarm. I've heard that Kerio & Sygate are good also, but a little harder to manage that Zone Alarm.

 

I have used Agnitum Outpost FREE for two years, and I was very happy with it, because you can configure every detail of your internet connection, and you can monitor the traffic very easily.
But unfortunately, this free version wasn't updated anymore, and after a while I got stop-errors (blue screens) in Windows, more and more.
Microsoft's Online Crash Analysis blamed Outpost for it.....

As I am from Holland, I don't want to pay for the PRO version ,
(we Dutchies want everything for free....)
So I went on the web to look for another good freeware firewall, and found Sygate's Personal Firewall.
I am using it for a few months now, and I am very happy with it. It didn't cost me much time to understand its configuration.
I think Sygate is giving me better protection than Outpost Free. I am missing the big screen with all the traffic though. It always gave me the great feeling of being in control of all that happens....

 

Be aware that Sygate cannot control access to local proxies on your system (see this FAQ) so if you are running any (principally web filters like Proxomitron but some antivirus scanners like Norton AV also use a local proxy for email scanning) then any application can use the proxies' rules to gain Internet access - in this case Kerio would be a better free solution.

However you may also find it worthwhile trying to track down the real cause of the blue-screens you were getting with Outpost (don't assume Microsoft's analysis is telling the whole story) - if it was working previously then something else must have changed on your system to cause a conflict.

 

Well I used to be a long time user of Zonealarm, first the free version then 8 months ago I registered for the pro version. It ran fine until they released Version 5 which is incredibly unstable and would regularly bring my system to a grinding halt locking it up solid so that a hard reset was needed. After browsing the Zone alarm forums it turns out I'm not the only person with this problem and the advice seems to be to revert back to the previous version then try the new version 5 when it comes out.

I really can't be doing with having to beta test something I've paid for so I switched to Kerio. Have been very impressed with the free version so far, especially the way it alerts you when one program tries to open another. This is the way I caught a suspicious file trying to open attrib.exe.

 

I agree completely about we having to beta test new updates.
I used Sygate Pro before, but since a new update started to behave badly with Avast, I switched to OutPost Pro and I like that one more. Never had any problem with it and it's really easy to use.
Never again do I want to become beta-tester of software I paid for.
Of course to beta-test Palm software, they can call anytime.

 

D'oh! I am still no closer to choosing a firewall after reading all the threads on Firewall ....

All of them seem to have some sort of negative points ... I don't mind it being a bit slow (medium resources usage is fine) but I just want it easy to install and to uninstall (clean) and secure. Oh ya and easy to set up ...

 

I have tried many firewalls, and now i am back on the free Kerio 4.0. It runs very smooth on my system, and it is doing a good job. I know it is not much favoured here at Wilders, and i really dont know why. The free ZA is useless, ZA PRO is good, i guess, but too expensive. I think the Kerio is providing the same protection, maybe even better. I have tried others, but Kerio is my choice.

 

Configurability of rules and they way an app accomplishes this task, is power. I have found Outpost Pro to be a “master” in this respect.

You can get the job done with Notepad, or have more options with Wordpad - but have a multitude of options with Word - to be as creative as you want to be. hehe, maybe not the best analogy but you know what I mean -

I have tried most other software firewalls but LookNStop. I am going to try LookNStop in another computer because I am impressed with results from many different testing facilities as well as testimonials from individuals.

BTW, I have 4 file sharing apps runining (emule, foldershare, leechget, and a bit torrent app) 3 are currently active downloading and uploading - keeping Outpost busy. OP is using 12MB of memory.

 

Hello
i like sygate-it seems to work very well
Rita

 

outpost pro 2.1 for me i own a license for za pro but i alway loose my connection when i run it so staying with op and am very happy with the program

 

Keeping the faith for now. Zone Alarm Pro 4.5, but I am very concerned. I got a thread over on the 'other firewalls' going if you want to take a look. No need to repeat my self here.

Oh, I think it is important to make this disclosure I have only used Norton Firewall 2004 and Zone Alarm Free and Pro. If I were to every try another my vote might change.

 

bump

6 poll left to reach 300 post to update my website

 

Outpost for its blockpost. ideal.

 

i like kerio 2.1.5. its low on resourses and has a MD5 checker too

 

I have used Zone alarm Pro, which i thought was ok, but wanted to try others. Changed to Mcafee (which im suprised wasnt in your poll) liked it but just didnt feel secure.

Now using outpost pro, and absolutely love it. This is the firewall to have in my opinion. And it also works very well with my mcafee enterprise 8.0i.

 

Right now I'm trying KAH. It's worth checking out. I've used free Sygate for many years and it has served me well. Not too long ago, there was an issue with Sygate being terminated without notice. It seems to have started with disabling ports 135, 445 and Netbios through a small utility program then re-enabling the ports. I was also using PG to protect it. I've read posts here and at Sygate about similar occurrances with no real determination of what has caused free Sygate to keep terminating. Not good! This disturbed me so I then proceded to try the Kerio 4 trial and now KAH....no terminating FW's! Years ago I've tried Zone Alarm when it was in its infancy and had compatibility problems with my OS.

 

I took a chance and bought two Outpost Pro licenses when it was still beta (with lifetime upgrades). No regrets. Kerio 2.1.5 would be my second choice.

Nick

 

I switched from McAfee after some problems, them? don't know! Using ZA 5, lately it's been blocking everything, don't trust it anymore, looking for something I can configure, not be controlled.

I spend alot of time looking up my logs, to see what I'm not getting now!! Think it's flipped out.

 

I've tried the following firewalls:

Zonealarm free 2.6.132 version - imo this is a very good firewall for beginners. It passes all the stealth tests I put it through at grc, pcflank, etc. However its logging features are something to be desired. It's horrible when trying to uninstall, due to the true vector engine.

Sygate personal firewall ( free ) This firewall is rich in features for a free firewall. The best logging features I've seen. Has the password protection option if you want it. Give you the ability to make some rules.. unlike zonealarm, and much more. Cons. It was a resource hog on my computer. So I got rid of it. I did like this firewall much better than zonealarm. Like zonealarm it passed all the stealth tests I put it through.

Outpost free - What can I say? I just didn't like this firewall. Like zonealarm, and sygate it passed all the stealth tests. It's just an ugly firewall imo. I didn't trust it either. I didn't feel secure with it. It hasn't been updated in years.

Look n stop - Don't remember what version I tried. It has a very light footprint on system resources. However, setting up the rules was just to confusing to me. I did set up some default rules that came with it. This firewall also passed all the stealth tests. Look n stop is not free though. LOL

Kerio 2.15 - This is my favorite firewall. The rules are easy to setup, and like look n stop it has a very light footprint. And it's free It also passes all the stealth tests . It also has great logging features.

Blackice defender - Didn't like this firewall at all. also failed several tests and had some open ports. It was a long time ago that I tried this firewall. Hopefully it has improved.

Now I will rank all these firewalls as to which I like best:

#1 Kerio 2.15

#2 Look n stop - If I ever leave kerio, look n stop will probably be back on my computer. I'll just have to study the rulemaking more carefully

#3 Sygate personal firewall - This is my third favorite firewall

#4 Outpost free

#5 Zonealarm

#6 Blackice defender


BTW. Did I mention that kerio 2.15 is my favorite

 

I had a thought... then I added others' thoughts to it.
Find out what features the firewalls mentioned here offer. Get someone ELSE's configuration files for the firewall that seems at once both versatile and powerful(the reason why I stick to kerio 4x) - just for checking it out, then modify the rules after reading the mnaul and visiting/lurking around a forum or two.
This will take 2 months on an average... but it should lead to bulletproofing of your system, at least till where you can notice it. I tried that for ZA, but I found it to be hopeless, NPF as a memory hog, and Sygate/outpost had none of the other features I liked such as program control of kerio4x (Its amazing - check out the manual for a good view - helps prevent trojans).
Tried it for Kerio 2.1.5 using yosponge's configs....loved it. Then shifted to Kerio4 for its better features incl. an IDS.
Tried similar for BlackICE... only thing I'm holding on to in it is component control (dlls)... I don't even like its auto-configuration.

 

If I had to choose it would be 'Sygate'.

 

I to choose for Kerio at the moment while I was using Outpost Pro for a year. but kerio will not prevent trojans. it has a intrusion prevention yes. and a application control but it has some vulnerabilities too. if you check out the forum (if you are lucky it is on the first page) you will see this thread, maybe I will copy this link this ev.)

but will not prevent trojans. (how could it prevent trojans)


kerio is great and versatile but using outpost together with the Blockpost (and blocklist manager) was one of the most important things for me I could remember. that was some security...I wished kerio could implement something like the blockpost from Outpost Pro.

just my two euro's

 

I like two:
Kerio 2.1.5
Jetico 1.0.1.31b ( at the moment it is very good, and promises too much more)
Both of them free!!!

 

zap because its simplicity.