best firewall out there?

whats the easiest to configure and to use firewall out there but has the most features?

 

I don't know about the easiest but I believe it is the best, if not it is tied for the best

 

Tied with which one BigC?

 

That's true Kerio 2.15 (not 4.xx) is a very good firewall. It has some good features like MD5 checksum verification. Also, it is ridiculously low on system resources. I think LnS (looknstop) also should be considered as one of the best firewall out there. It is a bit moree advanced but there isn't anything the guys/girls here at Wilder's can't help you with. It is feature packed. It alows for stateful packet inspection. Thread injection watcher (giving permission for applications to launch other applications...ie trillian to launch opera via a link in a message) Unlike Kerio 2.15 LnS has application filtering and internet filtering.

Both are great, my opinion LnS is better. However, since both mentioned are rule-based firewalls both firewalls, other features aside, are only as good as the rules you use.

 

I really couldnt say. I like this firewall, Haven't had any trouble with it on several os's. If I had to pick a second choice it would probably be Sygate 5.5 But this is just my personal opinion derived from experience on my own computer. Your experience with these apps might differ on your machine. But Kerio 2.1.5 does run light on the resources and is very effective and configurable.

 

Kerio here also.

TAS

 

#1 There is no best firewall, get that straight first. Its all about what your know how to configure, what you can configure, and the features you find useful.

I also use Kerio 2x, I have even written a ruleset to help Kerio beginners setup some basic functions since Kerio has a very steep learning curve. It uses very little resources, and its only using 4.5mb of memory on my system. Depending on the person I might not suggest they use Kerio 2x, and go for something simple like ZoneAlarm. Kerio is rule based, it allows for very complex configurations, and in those same configurations you can make one big mess if you don't understand what your doing.

Many users find the application based firewalls like ZA complex enough, which is why I don't usually suggest Kerio 2x to newbies.

 

funny, no mention of outpost.....

I Outpost 2.1 is very good. That is if you computer works with it.

LnS is great as it is very resources friendly however i don't like its interface.

 

i know there isn't really "the best firewall" but i'm just trying to get users opinions and to see which ones are the most popular so i can test them myself

 

Running Kerio 2.15 also for years, very satisfied with it

rgds,
Martin

 

what's the top firewall software out there?

i've heard about kerio and outpost, any others?

 

It all depends on what you want, do you understand a firewall, you know how to make rules.

In fact there are no top notch firewalls, it all depends on the person who configures it.

rgds,
Martin

 

A review here:

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1738,4722,00.asp

Cheers

 

In my opinion, the best is Outpost Firewall Pro.

Excelent protection, easy to config, low resources, very good interface, plugins support...

 

I would say Look'n'Stop for the unexperienced user.

And Tiny Personal FireWall 6.0 for the advanced users,
who want to have the most advanced firewall (as a hobby).

And i agree, it is more important how your firewall is configured,
then which brand of firewall you choose.

And further... a firewall is only a small part of the securitytools you
need on your system.
That is why a lot of firewalls today do more then just watching the ports
in your firewall.

And of course is also a matter of what you think is important,
and a of taste.

Tiny Personal Firewall f.i. is a tool which has also windows protection
monitors which processes that are allowed to be started,which directories
and diskspace can be changed by which program etc. etc.
The contra however is that TPF is very difficult to configure even for expereinced firewall(s) administrators.
And because it is difficult, it is easy to make mistakes, and that
is very bad for your systems security.
Further more, you will not find examples on how to configure your
TPF on the support websites etc., because the users are not
very open in sharing info regarding TPF (perhaps they are scared to show configration mistakes).
Look'n'Stop however has fantastic support here at wilders.

And which ever firewall you choose, take some time to test it from a remote
server/website after you have installed and configured it,to be sure that
you made no major errors.

Success,

BTW Outpost and Sygate are very good to, ZoneAlarm is not bad, but a bit to
often used, that is an extra risc for Trojans etc.

And buying a hardware firewall is even better, f.i. SNAPGEAR etc.

 

hhmmm ... after trying to read all the information related to firewall I am still no where near choosing one. I gave up and asked the IS people who later recommend me two (both free):

1) Zone Alarm.

2) Kerio (how do you pronouce this ... they pronouced it as Ke-ri-so ... hmmm ... )

Personally, I am thinking of these:

1) Look n Stop (Not Free ... errmm ... ok)

2) Kerio 2.1.5 ( rather complicated? I wonder if I can get my IS people to support me ... )

3) Sygate ... because it's free ... hmmm ...

Would love to use Kerio 2.1.5 if I know how to configure it.

Cheers

Chew

 

Fellow Creatures of the Wild,

BigC from what I've seen of your posts you seem to have good knowledge and my own independant research confirms it.

You know much Master Yoda. (I bow).

I can only share my experiences and temper with my own research always favor what I know from user experience. Otherwise I could give bad advice. Want to be helpful not cause some one problems.

Have experience with Zone Alarm xx ? free (July 2001) to now Zone Alarm Pro 4.5

Do not go to 5.0 at this time. None of the 5.xx's

Norton Personal Firewall 2004 on other computer good too. A little less good at letting you know what is going on. I think.

Have never used anything else. Best too u.

 

do rules firewall software require a lot of reading and understanding in order to use the firewall effectively?

if so are there guides out there because that would influence my choice

 

Here some common stuff and rule making for FW:

Here

and here

cheers,
Martin

 

Almost every firewall requires that you understand what it does and how it works to be able to configure it to best protect your needs. Not knowing how to configure your chosen firewall can leave your system wide open. As for configuring them, there are plenty of forums similar to this one to help you learn and set up your choice of a firewall. LnS has one here at Wilder's, Sygate has one, and I am sure Kerio, Tiny, and Outpost all have either official or unofficial support sites even though I have never used them I know they are quite popular and help would even be available here to help you out. Personally I use Sygate Pro and I like it and it fits my needs but I would hesitate to recommend it to a newbie with firewalls because of how it allows server permissions along with client permission and not knowing how to change that would leave your system open to attacks. I think ZA is trying to accomplish to much with its swiss army knife approach to security. Way back when it was just a firewall it was an excellent product that worked well, now they are adding privacy, web filtering, anti-virus and God knows what else is in their plans and it is all this extra functionality that is creating crashes and instability. I trialed Outpost a month or so ago and it crashed while testing it at PcFlank's exploits test, so I went back to Sygate. Which brings me to my next point, after you decide on a firewall and get it set up, I highly recommend testing it at any of the numerous testing sites available.

 

Exactly. Well stated. Some of the revisions or updates to 4.5 Pro were solved better by other security programs and bloated it.

5.xx is a bloated disaster.

 

You didn't understand what was said before? There is no best, or top firewall... its all personal preference, and what you know how to configure.

 

True indeed.
Used Sygate before, but after my subscription expired, I decided to try OutPost Pro. I simply like this firewall and it's not so difficult to configure. They also have a forum, where you can find a lot of usefull info on configuration to tighten your security.
I'll continue to use this firewall, so it's up to you, random, to find the one you like.

 

That's weird how many people chose Kerio version 2 because I tried it and certain applications ran too slow with it installed, but oddly enough not when I tried version 4, it ran smoothly. I just liked LnS way better than kerio version 4 so I chose that, what a shame and I could have used Kerio 2 for free too.