I have decided to get rid of zone alarm as it is being a slut and not working properly. What are some recommendations on some good firewalls?

i have had a look on google and come up with Keiro & Sygate, just wondering are these relativly easy to use etc?

Also, my router has an in built firewall already so is it necissary or worth using a software firewall?

(Duno whether this helps or not but..)
At the moment i am running a netgear rp614v3 router, zone alarm pro, symantec antivirus corporate edition and peer guardian.

thanks :)

Depending on the router's wall, id say dont worry about software wall, maybe a application blocker will do fine, but if you paranoid still then This is the best software wall i reckon not free and not easy to use but works damn well.

Edit: Dont bother with software wall's with that router. :)


last edited by 0z at 14:32:52 20/Aug/05

that router does it fine i think

If your router has a firewall, I would not bother with a software firewall unless you go to LANs or have friends over connecting to your home network.

But the best free Windows firewall? Outpost Firewall without a doubt! I've used it a lot in the past and have not been frustrated with it like I have with other firewalls.

last edited by parabol at 14:34:20 20/Aug/05

If you're behind a router with NAT, dont bother with a firewall.

Whats NAT ?

You might need to do a networking course scoobs.

Whats NAT ?

http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3ANAT

I use kerio + my router's firewall. I'm paranoid++
I just like kerio telling me who/what is trying to access my internets so I can say yay or nay to s***ty programs that should never access the internet.... like IE.

Yeah NAT will protect you from most stuff.

Just use the XP fireall too if you're paranoid, its improved with SP2.

cool, well i deleted zone alarm and things have started to get a bit better. I still have one issue with my router.

I have to re-apply my port forwarding settings after every restart, turn on of my computer and about every 10-20min. I have just basic things like msn, torrents, mirc, steam and things like that, that should work without being forwarded. Its getting really frustrating having to re-apply the settings every 20min tho. Am i doing it wrong or is something f***ed up?

I have been looking on a few different forums such as http://forum1.netgear.com/support/viewtopic.php?t=3968&sid=c8be952cbd53ed74b17bf4da3a434d6d and there are alot of ppl who seem to be getting the exact same problem :( i have just upgraded the firmware, so hopefully that might fix it. The only usefull thing that has seemed to have work is disabling SPI, which is the firewall. So i dont really want to do that if i can help it :(

:@ this is f***ing annoying me. Everything just stopped working, so i disabled SPI and now its still screwed >< WTF is wrong, stupid gay router.

Everytime i want to check emails i have to re-apply the settings, everyime i want to sign into msn, everytime i want to do anything apart from surf the internet i have to re-apply the settings. Bittorrent is horrible, have to re-apply every 10minutes or the ports get blocked ><

last edited by sc00bs at 22:41:28 20/Aug/05

my linksys wrt54g works just fine. sveasoft firmware ftw

so the router aint saving your port forward setting? sounds very dodge :(

Try down grading the firmware to each realase to you find one that runs good.


last edited by 0z at 22:56:00 20/Aug/05

quote from netgear forums..

I just got a RP614v3 and have the following problem: after running for a couple of hours it blocks every connection BUT http

yer it seems to be my router is just f***ing gay :( atleast they get a few hours of it working, i get at max 30min :'( off to get a new router this week i guess.

last edited by sc00bs at 23:06:04 20/Aug/05

ditch those pansy router firewalls.... get yourself an old alcatel 510 and a p2-350 and install linux.. instant router with a decent firewall that you can use to do stuff and doesn't suffer from connection limits like embedded software can.

:]

^^ um, bit of over kill there.

Sounds like it's time to get out the shovel.. Go on.. you know you want to.

If you have a spare box, Linux or one of the pre-packaged firewall things like Smoothwall is great. The Linksys router things are also awesome and I'd strongly recommend them as something easy to use, though you don't get the control (and extra features) you do with a Linux distro.

However, if you just want a software firewall - I'd strongly recommend Kerio. I'd never even seen one of these software firewalls before - I've basically always had a linux box in front of my windows PCs - and my first experience with this was at my grandfather's place.

He's not particularly computer literate, but managed to download, install, and configure Kerio. I was blown away when I went over and it was all working perfectly and he had a really good idea of what it was doing. After having a bit of a play around with it I really liked the features and it seemed like one of those rare, nicely-written, bloat-free applications. Get it upya!

yep, kpf ftw. been using it for about 5 years now.

not really overkill... something like ipcop is dumbsmack easy to install as long as your hardware is pretty old (and thus compatible with the inbuilt drivers) and gives you tonnes of power and flexibility, also good for setting up proxies and such
I always try and stay away from software firewalls on client machines, they are generally irritating and get in the way of stuff

software firewalls on windows defeat the purpose of a firewall.... packets can still deliver nuke payloads and there are numerous bugs for the firewalls known out there. a firewall needs to be a unique entity on a network.. integrating it with what you're protecting is like wearing a bullet proof vest but not strapping it down, stuff can still easily get in. so seriously.. $50-100 at cash converters will pick up a sufficient machine for a slackware install or redwall boot cd or clark connect or any other linux/bsd/nix distribution that matches what you want.

and if you HAVE to go with a router based solution.. go a linksys and flash it with the modded firmwares... they can come with a linux firmware or a cisco firmware... either way.. network security isn't something to just think that some software that doesn't have raw socket control can really look after. you don't need to spend a years pay buying a cisco pix or a juniper netscreen.. but quality is still out there for cheap.. just can not exist on windows..

I leave my computer turned off and wear a tin foil hat for peace of mind.

The most secure computer is one that is not connected to the internet. That's why I recomend Telstra ADSL.

haha typo