I'm having a hard time decididing between the two. Which firewall uses less resources Has better security performs faster. thanks.
Hi Mike. I can't answer all your questions. I used sygate(free) for about a year. I trialed look n stop for about a week before going to kerio 2.1.5 I'll answer your first question, and let someone more knowledgeable than me answer the other 2. Which firewall uses less resources? Look'n' stop uses less resourses than any firewall that I'm aware of. Sygate became pretty bloated after version 5.1, I believe that's the right version My only comment on question 2 is this. Unless sygate has fixed a bug in there firewall. You can't run any program that uses a proxy server...such as proxomitron, absubtract pro Etc... The bug is in the loopback issue. If you don't run any programs that use this feature. Sygate is a fine firewall. Now I will step aside, and let someone more knowledgeable than me comment.
Well LNS is the lightest of the two on resources, and their support is located right here on Wilders forums. The drawback is that LNS is a one man operation and if he dies or something, then LNS will cease to exist. Even though support is right here on Wilders, it is not the quickest for response time. When I trialed LNS for simple questions it at times took two to three days to get a response. I mean simple questions like why can't Firefox access the internet. Of the two mentioned LNS will also lock your computer down more securely right out of the box. IMO even though you didn't ask about it, give Outpost a try, although a little heavier on resources, it is just a secure out of the box as LNS and their support is second to none.
Mr2cents is right about Sygate, I have exactly the same issues today running the new Avast 4.6 Beta. Until I read a post on the Avast forum yesterday I did not realise this was even an issue with Sygate, worst still I was oblivious to the fact that since running the new Beta all of my outward protection had disapeared even though I had set certain applications to block
If you are considering LnS, you might also want to take a look at Jetico Personal Firewall. What the two have in common are low resource usage, sandboxing and both are rule based. to prevent trojans from masquerading as trusted applications. Jetico is free for now. Kerio 2.15, also free, is another nice choice in the low resource, rules based category, but without sandboxing. Kerio 2.15 has a very good interface that makes it the firewall to use to learn about how to work with rules based firewalls. You should read through the LnS support forum and see if any of the issues brought up there are important to you. Syagate and LnS are so different that I wonder how you narrowed it down to those two.
Any firewall has strengths and weaknesses so more information about likely Internet usage is needed to make a firm recommendation. Sygate's problem is its inability to filter loopback traffic mentioned by Mr2Cents meaning that if you use proxy software (webfilters like Proxomitron or WebWasher, some antivirus email scanners, etc), then Sygate will allow any application to use them to gain network access. If no such applications are used, then this should be a non-issue. Look'n'Stop's weaknesses are that it does not use stateful inspection by default and if you enable it, you are limited to 128 concurrent network connections (though this may increase in later versions) which may be a problem for some file-sharing applications. You also need to use a separate application (LnSSvc) to provide protection during Windows startup if you have an "always-on" Internet connection. To summarise, LnS should perform faster and offer better security in most situations. Kerio is worth considering (you can use software like System Safety Monitor or Process Guard to provide process protection) - Jetico seems to be a lot more complex but could offer better security if configured properly.
Hi all, Paranoid2000, have you ever tryed Jetico? it would be interesting if you try it, so that you will give us interesting advises about this powerfull firewall. I hope you have done it. I ask this because you have told something about it. thanks.
Have to agree with Slovak, questions can take days to get answered on the LnS forum. I also found out it is not very network friendly. I have two home computers connected through a router and had numerous headaches trying to get it all running.
I've checked the Jetico documentation but do not have a test system to trial it - and I try to avoid making too many changes on my main (and only) computer for stability reasons. Jetico looks interesting but rather complex - somewhere between LnS and Tiny complexity-wise.
Hi all, thanks for answering Paranoid2000, I hope sometime you try it to see how you think it is the best way to configured it to see what can I do to to the rules that I have in this firewall, I inicially configured like kerio 2.1.5 as I said some months ago here and it works fine, it doesn´t ask anything and passes every test at grc,etc. and all leak testing, but probably there is something else to add to the rules.
That's a pretty good description. It's nowhere near as inscrutable as Tiny, but I think it is a little more confusing than Kerio or LnS.
Zorro, I think the default rules are pretty good. If you start with those and then tailor things to your individual needs a little, that should be fine.
