Does your third party software Firewall slow down your internet speed?

Discussion in 'polls' started by ssj100, Oct 19, 2009.

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Does your third party software Firewall slow down your internet speed?

  1. Yes, the slow down is noticeable

    8 vote(s)
    7.5%
  2. No, I don't notice any slow down

    59 vote(s)
    55.1%
  3. Unsure

    13 vote(s)
    12.1%
  4. I don't use a third party software Firewall

    27 vote(s)
    25.2%
  1. ssj100

    ssj100 Guest

    Does your third party software Firewall slow down your internet speed at all?
     
  2. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    I assume Windows Firewall would not count under "third party", so voted option 4, otherwise no, it does not cause any slowdown.
     
  3. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    Heh ok, I voted correctly then :D
     
  4. stratoc

    stratoc Guest

    the same if not slightly faster than windows here (vista 32 bit)
     
  5. blacknight

    blacknight Registered Member

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    Europe, UE citizen
    " No, I don't notice any slow down " ( here I mean CIS and OSSS; in the past, no slow down with KIS 7. Not a bad idea if who posts here would tell which fw he uses. ;)
     
  6. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    With a software firewall I have noticed a slow down at times. have since quit using a software firewall and now just use an Alpha Shield hardware firewall.

    bigc
     
  7. Ed_H

    Ed_H Registered Member

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    I don't notice any slowdown with Online Armor.
     
  8. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    Most of my experiences with third party firewalls have been very good- no noticable surfing slowdown.
    Private Firewall has been good in that area for me.
     
  9. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    Similar experience here, and this has been the case for a number of years using them. Other, more important issues I've encountered with them have been occasional annoying, buggy behaviour. Lately I have foregone the 3rd part fw in favour of Vista's, using custom rules for outgoing program control. Have been behind a NAT router for years.
     
  10. YeOldeStonecat

    YeOldeStonecat Registered Member

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    No I run it at the router/gateway, at many of my clients also. Done at the appliance, does not affect internet or LAN performance to much of a degree, internet still tests at full speed. UTM appliances such as Untangle or Endian.
     
  11. noone_particular

    noone_particular Registered Member

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    No slowdown at all with Kerio 2.1.5, system or internet. I just ran several speed tests, 4 with the firewall active and 4 with it bypassed. After averaging the results, my internet speed is 1.3% faster when Kerio is active, not a noticable change with DSL. A few years ago when I used dialup service, the increase when running Kerio was more substantial, enough that it was easily noticed in normal usage. The only explanation I can come up with to explain these results is that my firewall rules enforce a default deny policy on internet access, which prevents system components like Windows Explorer from consuming some of my bandwidth.
     
  12. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I use Look'n'Stop on my netbook (XP) and Windows own firewall for my other Vista and XP machines. I really can't tell the difference if any in terms of surfing, although start up times are slightly longer using Look'n'Stop.
     
  13. Dark Star 72

    Dark Star 72 Registered Member

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    I am using OA++ and my start up time and download and browsing speeds are slightly faster than when OA is off the machine so no, my third party firewall doesn't cause any slowdowns at all.
     
  14. chrisretusn

    chrisretusn Registered Member

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    Gonna assume we're talking Windows here. No noticable slow down.

    Only router/firewall with Slackware, no third parties.
     
  15. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I can't really quantify the delay (it is minimal) but it is usually the last thing to load. I believe AVs are a lot more critical to surfing speed than firewalls, especially when web guard is on.
     
  16. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

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    That's not the reason why I don't use a third-party firewall. I use my router's firewall, which I feel is sufficient, as I'm not too concerned with outbound monitoring. Windows firewall is also turned on, but whether I need that as well is debatable.
     
  17. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    The poll results obviously suggest 3rd firewalls don't slow down browsing speeds, which leads me to wonder: Most 3rd party firewalls are filtering adequately with minimal impact on browsing speeds, most people are in denial or most 3rd firewalls are doing a less than adequate job of checking packet information? Wilders member Stem - an undeniable security expert no less - has mentioned Windows firewall does a better job than many 3rd party firewalls of filtering packets.

    All I know is that Windows firewall, including Vista's two-way which I've recently setup with several customized application rules, is out-performing some 3rd party firewalls I've used in several key areas: browsing speed and minimal impact on system performance, the latter of which is particularly noticeable to me.
     
  18. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    This! I just wish he would add more input. It tends to be invaluable.
     
  19. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    He has some opinion here on the matter. Admittedly, he does not say Windows fw is better, but is not convinced the 3rd party products will offer better filtering. It seems I remember a thread somewhere where he liked the packet filtering of Windows fw, maybe XP's?
     
  20. Scoobs72

    Scoobs72 Registered Member

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    I have had some slowdowns with certain 3rd party firewalls, even very popular ones which 95%+ of people seem to have no problems with. It just seems to be the nature of things - software reacts differently on different peoples setups.
     
  21. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    It seems Comodo is mentioned frequently by many members here as a firewall that does not adversely impact browsing speed, shich is obviously a good thing :) I used it quite extensively within the past couple years and I don't remember it slowing my browsing speed either. There was something(s) I didn't like about it, though; somehow the way the rules setup works bugged me. The logging was less than adequate for my liking too. No matter what I've used, there seems to be something I don't quite like in a product, but I digress. As you mention, perception and subjection in what you see is what matters most. As I've mentioned, negative impact due to buggy behaviour has been more noticeable to me that impact on browsing speed, and the former behaviour is usually what compels me to seek other possible alternatives.
     
  22. noone_particular

    noone_particular Registered Member

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    About the best that you can do is to run the speed test several times for each condition, firewall running, not running, not installed, then average the results.
    There's quite a few servers with speed tests available at this site. The java based speed tests seem to be more consistent IMO.
     
  23. Beavenburt

    Beavenburt Registered Member

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    Router only here. Running linux behind a SPI firewalled router makes me safe enough. No slowdowns whatsoever.
     
  24. act8192

    act8192 Registered Member

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    Using fiberoptic service 2/5 (Verizon FIOS)
    I notice no difference, no dragging, and this test supports
    http://miranda.ctd.anl.gov:7123/
    Two routers in the way. All that on XP-home-SP3 and Opera.

    4 runs with Sunbelt's Kerio on
    Outbound 1.76,1.77.1.73.1.77MB/s
    Inbound 4.77, 4.77, 4.77, 4.78MB/s

    4 runs with Sunbelt's Kerio off
    Outbound 1.77, 1.77, 1.72, 1.77MB/s
    Inbound 4.77, 4.78, 4.78, 4.77MB/s

    I had practically the same results with Outpost and ZoneAlarm.
     
  25. tipstir

    tipstir Registered Member

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    SFL, USA
    Some weird stuff going on with Comodo firewall and it's the only one on my Media Server that will connect to the Media Client okay. Everything else here fails to communicate. Comodo slows the the system connection to the internet. You need to remove it off your system and then run your test. I did that and sure enough once remove the system is more back to normal. I think they have some more issues to iron out. But there isn't anymore firewalls that are free or paid that can work with my network gear. I know one guy using PSense but then again building a fast enough system just to run 24/7 to be only router/firewall but still have to run client FW to protect I/O bound traffic

    Router bypass from your modem to the PC running comodo you would have to test speed results. Modem to PC without Comodo but turn on Windows Firewall and test that you'll get faster result. Comodo pikes CPU to 100% or it's writing to the HDD but find that strange for it do that.
     
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