ZoneAlarm vs Kerio Personal. What do you think?

Hi guys!

I like this forum. A lot of Knowledgeable and interesting people. As a novice user i have to learn from you.

I use the latest Avast 4.6.603 as av and i have to choose between zonealarm free and Kerio personal firewall 4.1.2 or may be 4.2.0 Beta 2.
What do you think about their effectiveness and the use of system resourses.

Have you suggest any better free product?
I tried install Sygate Personal Firewall but my system crushed. I have no idea what happened. So i except it.

Thanks a lot!

 

Zone Alarm is good and make sure the Stealth Mode bars are all the way up. I dont like ZA's interface I think its too messed up so to speak. Also ZA has add-ons which I dont like. A firewall is a firewall, that my point of thinking.

As for Kerio, It managed to crash. It gave me like a buffer or runtime error on boot and then after that I seemed Ok afterwards but I did not trust it.

Stick with Sygate. Or any of the following...... 8Signs, CHX-Packet Filter.

And BTW, the lesser known firewalls are less known to be bypassed. Avoid using the known brands. IMHO, the lesser knowns are a bit better afterall like the ones above.

 

Hi guys .
ZA is very good . Especially for a novice . Sygate ? No . It is good for a novice but , it stinks at protection . Kerio is excellent . You can see from the bottom of my post , that I use something different but , that is not the question is it ? Za or Kerio , either one , would be a good choice . If it were me , I would choose Kerio but , ZA is a little easier to use . Good luck

 

You must be talking about the free one. The free one really sucks as most of the needed protection options are grayed-out. The Pro is good.

I dont know, ZA is good too, but I hate its interface. (I mean the free one) It just really gets to me... and I can;t beleive ZA users are not complaining about the looks of it.

The ones that I mentioned like CHX, 8signs are very very very hard to configure. Thats there downfall, but there great. If it were easy, I'd stick to them.

"The best firewalls are, if we would just get rid of ALL THE HACKERS in the world that exist" Then we'd have the best....

 

I agree my friend . Whole heartedly ! I must say that ZAP is good . I like the bells and whistles . The interface is overly simple . I actually liked it after I changed the color . lol . Anyway . Kerio is awesome . But , ZAP is excellent too . Between the two , I pick Kerio . I feel ZAP will be a bit easier on resources though .

 

By the way Green Dragon . I would pay the money for a pro version . They are usually easier to use as they have more " things " to play with . You did not ask but , may I suggest you download Outpost Pro and see what you think . If so , while the install is taking place , it will ask if you would like to have it configure for you . Choose yes . And there is a learning mode . Any questions , you may contact me by private message and I will be happy to help you . As always , Good luck in your quest

 

just my opinion, but i'd rather be kicked in the nuts than try any new version, 5.0 or higher of zonealarm ever again. if you know what you're doing, or don't mind investing a little time in learning, i would give kerio a try. personally, i use outpost pro 2.5

 

My opinion either of the free ones ZA or Kerio fine based on others for Kerio cause I never used it. I used ZA for years, also used ZAP for a year let the license expire and dumped it for Out Post Pro. IMO you sould not pay $$ for ZAP get the free ZA if you want Zone Alarm. Unlike Hollywood I hated all the other junk not worth the $$. Useless overlapping (with other programs) crap for me. Just me I guess.

Last I heard they finally got it right with the latest version of 5. But INTOXISCATE is correct most of version 5 . I think 4.5 last version is still around...golden.

 

Oupost Pro has good SPI firewalling. But, I just dont like the extra add-ons on that either.

Here is my wish list:

I wish there was a firewall that has SPI inspection and all you had to do is just check on it and your off to go. No installations, no configuring etc.....

kinda like XP's built-in firewall. Were all you have to do is check one lowsy radio button that says ENABLE without installing.

 

I understand My2cents, I turned all but two of them off.

 

OMG Intox ! Too funny !!! I cannot stop laughing . You are so right ! NUFF SAID !!

 

Hi Mercurie .

You are right as well . After the 5.0 release , they turned to crap . Let my license lapse as well . Yuck . And half the time , the web bug feature and the cookie feature , would not work .

 

Can you PLEASE tell me on how to get there in the interface

So wil lI have to do once I install it? Because I want Stateful Inspection too. So how can achieve this without configuring? Remember, I have also Stateful Inspection checked marked already. Thats all I did so far. Then what do I have to do next? I only use the PC only for basic Internet surfing and email.

 

Ok, but do I have to check all those? I especially want to check the SPI feature.

So which ones do I have to check and uncheck

And besides that area, what minimal tasks would I have to do?

 

Ok I'll download the manual.

Some say this is FREE. Is this free or not? Because I heard that if this trial version expires, it will automatically turn into a the Lite version (which is free).

If thats the case, than will I have the same options?

 

I will just stick with Kerio 2.1.5, it has never let me down.


bigc

 

bigc, you must have been reading my mind. My thoughts exactly

 

I have used Kerio 2.1.5 since my original Tiny turned to Kerio. I know that is not the right term, but I started with Tiny about 1999, and a year or two later went to Kerio 2. It has never let me down.

If anyone desires a free firewall then Kerio 2.1.5 is the clear choice in my opinion. In fact I have LnS pay on my new computer and Kerio on my old. I may go to Kerio when the LnS subscription expires, although I have absolutely no complaints with LnS.

Jerry

 

ZA free is a good firewall. Are you looking for something with rules capability? Any other features?

Regards,

CrazyM

 

ZA is great on inbound, pretty good on outbound, but cannot be configured to stealth what ports it leaves open! Crappy user interface, and after version 2.xx something became highly exploitable w/some back door issues. Outpost is pretty good but it's just a flat out pain in the butt to configure, LookNStop...don't get me goin. Black Ice....junk it. Sygate should get the gate! And on and on down the list we could go. For the best all around protection, user friendly interface, and effectiveness Kerio 2.1.5 is unrivaled IMHO. Here's the test to take....go to www.grc.com and take the "shields up" test, then take the "leaktest". If your firewall can't stop the leaktest, or at the very least doesn't alert you to outgoing traffic....time to find a new firewall! FAST! Go to www.practicallynetworked.com click on security in the left pane and take their tests too. See how your system stands up. Please keep in mind I tested approx 20 firewalls, ALL FREE VERSIONS, so don't hammer me on the paid versions. I won't pay for it when the free one is awesome. Until something better comes along, I'll be using Kerio 2.1.5 on every computer I touch. Actually both the above websites have test pages from various firewalls if I remember correctly. Read up on the pages as there is an absolute plethera of security information to be digested at both sites.