Is the ESS Firewall worth the upgrade?

I run NOD32 on a Windows 7 x64 machine. I am considering upgrading to Smart Security, but it appears that the only added features I will gain is Antispam and Firewall. Antispam is of no value to me because I use web based Gmail.

Is the ESS Firewall worth the upgrade (and associated costs) from NOD32 to ESS? Or should I stick with NOD32 and Windows Firewall?

 

If you don't need Antispam, there is no point in paying extra for the suite just to get the ESS firewall. IMO, it's no better than the Windows firewall so you might just as well stick with NOD32 and save yourself some money.

If you do decide that you want a third-party firewall for outbound application monitoring, there are some good free ones to choose from without paying extra.

 

Actually ESS has an outbound application monitoring, you just have to set its policy mode.

http://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=content&id=SOLN2118

 

Yes, ESS has a two-way firewall but the question was whether it is worth paying extra just to get the firewall, given that Antispam is of no value to the OP.

Either the Windows 7 firewall (also two-way) or a free third-party two-way firewall would provide outbound application control without incurring extra cost.

 

For just the firewall? No. The Windows 7 firewall works just fine.