Author Topic: Best free firewall for Windows? (Read 428,557 times)

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #25 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:29 AM »

I have just been reading an article about PCTools Firewall (free). As part of my reading I revisited

http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/

which has been updated a couple times recently.

Some interesting feedback from vendors that are criticised.

nosh · « **Reply #26 on:** November 22, 2007, 03:31 PM »

Comodo Firewall 3 was recently released and it's getting some really good press.

Sygate has been protecting my system for years now and has never given me a reason to complain. I'm of the mindset "If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it." I can't help but wonder though, why people like Comodo so much.

mouser · « **Reply #27 on:** November 22, 2007, 03:33 PM »

Yeah Comodo is looking really good lately, and more importantly it looks like they are really working continuously on making it good.

nontroppo · « **Reply #28 on:** November 22, 2007, 05:19 PM »

Carol: thanks for that great link - I'm pretty shocked at how much performance degredation they measure. I'd installed Comodo 2.x for a friend, they measure performance at 70% of original level...

mitzevo · « **Reply #29 on:** November 22, 2007, 05:26 PM »

I just installed CF 3 and it's lookin' good

(big UI improvements), hope it doesn't bring any major pains

Lashiec · « **Reply #30 on:** November 22, 2007, 07:30 PM »

Let us know if things go wrong, mitzevo. The program looks great, but that picture in Ryan's post about Firefox accessing the keyboard makes me wonder if this is a security program or a trojan that kidnaps your computer and demands a ransom divided in a thousand parts. I suppose this would make a good security suite, without any other program protecting the computer, as it seems to make a bunker of it.

Without any lightweight and shy firewall, I'd end up buying a router. Or setting up the old computer to be a firewall (tricky...)

nosh · « **Reply #31 on:** November 23, 2007, 06:50 AM »

I tried Comodo yesterday, installed it using the Basic "Firewall only" option. It is highly configurable and version 2 had great results in the leak test (refer Carol's post above). It shows you application names and the percent of bandwidth they're used on the main screen but I couldn't get it to show other stats like total up/down speed, incoming allowed/blocked per application on the main screen . I also missed the simple elegance of Sygate. Add to that what nontroppo said (which I cannot confirm coz I didn't use it long enough) - a 30% hit on speed (by v.2) and the decision to scrap it was fairly simple.

OldElmerFudd · « **Reply #32 on:** November 29, 2007, 02:43 AM »

Update to my list: I've dumped A2, Prevx (tiresome), and TrojanHunter. AVG Free is gone in Favor of EsetNOD, and AdAware's lifetime is limited. ZA is about to be replaced by the new Eset Security Suite on all the boxes.
Endlessly refining, as always.

OEF

laughinglizard · « **Reply #33 on:** November 30, 2007, 07:59 PM »

Quote from: Gothi[c

link=topic=6059.msg42856#msg42856 date=1162882227]
Well, sygate was indeed the best firewall i ever used for windows. RIP. I'd recommend anyone to try and find a copy of it.

You can find Sygate 5.0 to 5.6.2808 here:

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=sygate

mouser · « **Reply #34 on:** November 30, 2007, 08:00 PM »

Comodo 3 is looking really, REALLY good.

mrainey · « **Reply #35 on:** November 30, 2007, 08:19 PM »

Quote

I've dumped A2, Prevx (tiresome), and TrojanHunter.

Why dump TrojanHunter?

nosh · « **Reply #36 on:** December 01, 2007, 03:05 PM »

Quote from: laughinglizard on November 30, 2007, 07:59 PM

Quote from: Gothi[c
link=topic=6059.msg42856#msg42856 date=1162882227]
Well, sygate was indeed the best firewall i ever used for windows. RIP. I'd recommend anyone to try and find a copy of it.

You can find Sygate 5.0 to 5.6.2808 here:

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=sygate

I was stuck on 5.5 assuming it was the ~~latest~~ last version released. Doh! Thanks.

OldElmerFudd · « **Reply #37 on:** December 14, 2007, 02:14 AM »

Quote from: mrainey on November 30, 2007, 08:19 PM

Quote
I've dumped A2, Prevx (tiresome), and TrojanHunter.

Why dump TrojanHunter?

Umm...Well, when it came time to renew it, I'd already decided to let it lapse. I routinely scan all downloads for problems. I never heard a peep out of TrojanHunter (and I encountered a few nasties) except 'Thanks for updating'! BTW, after a trial run at Eset's Smart Security, I found the firewall kind of lame and the anti-spam component equally lackluster. I do like the upgrade from 2.7 to 3.0 in the Nod32 AV. Light footprint and automatic daily updates; set it and forget it. Just haven't been as impressed by any freeware. Sigh.
OEF

Armando · « **Reply #38 on:** December 30, 2007, 10:41 PM »

I finally updated my Comodo v2 to v3, and I'm happy I did. Much more configurable, and takes even less resources than it did (v3 : 3-8mb on my laptop). With version 2 I had problem with the DLL injection monitoring, but that's fixed now. The system process also went berserk from time to time. That's fixed too.
The interface looks nice (although I'd like to have a Windows Classic theme instead). My system is stable.
All in all, it seems like a VERY good deal!

nontroppo · « **Reply #39 on:** December 31, 2007, 04:16 PM »

Has anyone ever tried using the port of IPFW for windows? For those who don't know, IPFW is a BSD originated FW that is very well regarded. As expected from its heritage, it is command-line in nature:

http://wipfw.sourceforge.net/

Come on, enjoy some FW masochism!

jp10558 · « **Reply #40 on:** January 15, 2008, 12:10 PM »

I'm also trialing Comodo v3. It seems nice for full HIPS, quieted down after a day. Downside, no way to import rules from other firewalls (well, none do this so I'm just not wanting to reset everything now that Outpost 3 has been working for so long

) One issue, using some low level software like MS SFU or Emcosoft Remote Deployment Kit for a program capture caused a bluescreen.

Normal use of all windows apps, including running on CompuSec Free full disk encryption, and using Altiris SVS all worked fine, so I figure it's just buggy software above (and who but IT would use SFU or a snapshot pacakager anyway?).

provoker · « **Reply #41 on:** January 15, 2008, 04:53 PM »

I am currently running Sygate Personal Firewall 5.6 (build 3408) and I have never really had a problem with it so far. Though I am not sure it will prevent intrusions and such as well as Comodo probably does...

Thing is I have tried A LOT of other firewalls but they always behave like shit on my PC.
Comodo -as an example- didn´t allow me to use uTorrent (or any other p2p-app) despite hours and hours of setting the rules according to expert guides. Now.. I REALLY want to like Comodo but...

wilfrednilsen · « **Reply #42 on:** January 16, 2008, 05:40 PM »

You need a firewall if you are using a laptop on insecure networks, but…

You do not need a firewall on a stationary PC if you are using a router since the router is already working as a firewall. By default, all services are blocked by your router. It is for this reason unnecessary having a firewall installed on a stationary PC protected by a router. Using a firewall on a PC behind a router is a waste of money, CPU, and memory.

mwb1100 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 16, 2008, 08:37 PM »

Quote from: wilfrednilsen on January 16, 2008, 05:40 PM

You do not need a firewall on a stationary PC if you are using a router...

This is true if you trust that other computers (if any) on your LAN behind the router are not going to get infected with malware and if you are not interested in controlling outgoing connections (which is an interest of many people using software firewalls).

However, I agree that putting a router between your PC and the Internet is a very easy and important way to gain a lot of security. I set up my Mom (who has only one computer) with a router for this very reason.

f0dder · « **Reply #44 on:** January 17, 2008, 12:23 AM »

Quote from: wilfrednilsen on January 16, 2008, 05:40 PM

You need a firewall if you are using a laptop on insecure networks, but…

You do not need a firewall on a stationary PC if you are using a router since the router is already working as a firewall. By default, all services are blocked by your router. It is for this reason unnecessary having a firewall installed on a stationary PC protected by a router. Using a firewall on a PC behind a router is a waste of money, CPU, and memory.

XP SP2 comes with a firewall for free, which uses very little CPU and memory... it's a smart idea to leave it enabled, unless you never have friends visiting with a laptop. Also, not all routers protect you, only if both of the following conditions are met:
1) the router does NAT'ing
2) your main PC isn't set up as a DMZ host / default traffic target.

A lot of broadband routers default to DMZ'ing your main pc, and some broadband routers are configured in bridging mode, where your PC gets the WAN IP...

lanux128 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 17, 2008, 12:42 AM »

btw, i'm behind a secure router, so much so that i've ditched 3rd-party firewalls for the Windows firewall, even though i came to know that it does only offers inbound protection.

f0dder · « **Reply #46 on:** January 17, 2008, 12:52 AM »

Quote from: lanux128 on January 17, 2008, 12:42 AM

btw, i'm behind a secure router, so much so that i've ditched 3rd-party firewalls for the Windows firewall, even though i came to know that it does only offers inbound protection.

Who cares about outbound "protection" anyway? When you get to the point where it kicks in, your PC has already been compromised... I see it as fixing the symptoms instead of curing the problem.

lanux128 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 17, 2008, 01:06 AM »

[off-topic]
f0dder, i'd like to ask for your expert opinion regarding this router problem i'm having. more info here.
[/off-topic]

mwb1100 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 17, 2008, 01:09 AM »

Quote from: f0dder on January 17, 2008, 12:52 AM

Who cares about outbound "protection" anyway? When you get to the point where it kicks in, your PC has already been compromised... I see it as fixing the symptoms instead of curing the problem.

I suppose that you can think of it like a burglar alarm. Not that I use outbound protection - it's far too much work to configure.

Liquidmantis · « **Reply #49 on:** January 17, 2008, 07:55 PM »

Well, outbound protection lets you know when something has gone wrong and can help minimize the damage. I also like to make sure I know what the "benign" apps on my system are doing.