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What type of Firewall do you use?


MrG

What type of Firewall do you use?  

207 members have voted

  1. 1. What type of Firewall do you use?

    • Hardware
      15
    • Software
      119
    • Both Hardware and Software
      68
    • None
      2
    • What's a Firewall?
      3


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Typically just the hardware firewall for the SOHO router with the latest firmware update--right now, I'm using a NetGear WNR834B--and making sure to change the internal network IP address from something other than the default.

 

Otherwise, I've been playing around with IPCop on a spare machine which seems to work fairly well and easily enough.

 

On the software side, I've got Peer Guardian 2 running.

 

YMMV

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It has a firewall built in. Not being a Vista user myself I can't comment on how good the firewall is or isn't, however you can make your own determination of it freely and safely by testing it or any other firewall against some intrusions at:

* GRC's ShieldsUP Firewall Tests

* McAfee's Hackerwatch.org Firewall Tests

* PC Flank's Internet Security Tests

 

The newest ZoneAlarm Free that has a disabled Kaspersky Antivirus in it for some reason or another can slow down your system and it's not just limited to the startup of Windows itself, but also when doing other antivirus/malware scans - well at least that's what I found out when recently testing it before I ditched it. Windows Defender is the built in anti-spyware program which is better than nothing, however SUPERAntiSpyware is a worthy replacement and it's available as a free edition or paid edition.

 

Thanks for the links Andavari, I passed with flying colors at Shields Up but something is slowing down my system for sure. I guess I'll try some other firewalls and see if they pass the test. I'm using Spybot right now but will take a look at superantispyware.

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I guess I'll try some other firewalls and see if they pass the test. I'm using Spybot right now but will take a look at superantispyware.

Most modern firewalls will past all those tests easily, however it's nice to have verification that they're indeed protecting the system. The new Spybot-S&D v1.5 has a very much improved Immunization system and is a keeper in my opinion. SUPERAntiSpyware is very good and very much worth having installed!

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  • 3 weeks later...
It has a firewall built in. Not being a Vista user myself I can't comment on how good the firewall is or isn't, however you can make your own determination of it.

 

Microsoft did it again - they finally added outbound protection and made it just hard/impractical enough that a user has to get third

party software if they really want the extra protection. Good thing that decent security software can downloaded for free nowadays.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

We have good tight security on our router but I do use windows fw as well. Was thinking of changing it to a better one but I have a low end desktop pc and it runs very slow with one on. My windows vista fw rocks! ;) Have been looking at NetVeda, Outpost, OnlineAmor and Ghostwall... I have not made my mind up yet.

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I now run an opensource unified threat management network appliance - untangle on my gateway perimiter attached to a gigabit managed switch. I use free AV, standard Vista firewall on client machines on the private LAN. ClamAVs detection rates in recent builds rival kaspersky's. I think this is better than a plain router running NAT.

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  • 3 weeks later...

windows fire wall no good spyware all the time fit good firewall stop the spyware download more scan & fix spyware all fix zone Alarm Pro good on fast PC, my slow PC Comodo free is good but all the fire wall keep saying AntiVirus & firefox ok or no to run let it out Windows is yes to all tell spyware to send? I not like so it up to you. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

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Hardware and hardware only. I think my NAT router with some basic firewall options is sufficient enough to not use even Windows Firewall on the computer's end. Altough, after next format and reinstall (because of the recent BIOS update and such) I might as well as test if that firewall is good enough to use as an secondary option.

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  • 1 month later...

As of a few days ago, I run Windows Firewall on my SP2 machine. I tried Comodo Firewall Pro V. 3. If one is a power user, then he/she may have no trouble with CFP. But, I'm an "average" computer user and found CFP v3.0 too demanding, buggy, and complicated. I should mention CFP's HIPS was enabled, which added to the complexity. I tried for a month to cope with it, but the last straw for me was when I ran my monthly CHKDSK and my system had a major crash. (It wouldn't even reboot in safe mood; I had to use something called last known good configuration to bring it back up.) The final insult was when I tried to uninstall CFP and it left so many files and registry keys behind that Windows Security Center kept saying CFP was still installed. (Yes, I even ran CCleaner.) Ultimately I had to manually remove a bunch of that stuff (not fun) and reset Windows Firewall. I later discovered in the Comodo forums that the CHKDSK and uninstall problems I experienced are happening to some other CFP users as well. All in all, a very unpleasant experience. But again, if one is not daunted by such happenings and has a higher skill level with computers than I, then Comodo may be something for you to consider.

 

I do have a question. I'm trying to learn more about firewall protection and went to Gibsons Research Center and ran ShieldsUP! for the first time. My Windows Firewall was turned on. I passed the File Sharing test, but failed the Common Ports test because ping reply was detected. I checked my firewall settings; no entries in the Exceptions tab are checked and no entries in the ICMP section of the Advanced tab are checked. I don't know much about this subject or how to fix this ping issue on my system. Help is appreciated (the simpler the explanation, the better). Thanks.

 

PS - Other security on my system: Nod32, Superantispyware, Spybot S&D

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  • 1 month later...
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