I probably need to upgrade my personal firewall, and I'd like something that's free or inexpensive. what do you guys prefer? what are the pros/cons of each?

9/11/2006 1:07:30 PM

free firewalls: Zonealarm , Kerio , Windows Firewall

I use the Windows Firewall and my router. Your router is basically a hardware firewall. As long as you're careful, don't let things on your computer (know how to determine if something is malware), and know how to configure ports/port forwarding etc then the Windows Firewall is all you really need.

9/11/2006 2:24:12 PM

^agreed. Behind a HW firewall, I just keep windows firewall running to know when stuff trys to phone home. Also, if you have an nvidia chipset on your motherboard you can turn on the nvidia firewall in the BIOS. Its pretty much a HW firewall. Ive never used mine, but I've heard it works pretty well.

9/11/2006 2:30:55 PM

just my linksys box.

9/11/2006 2:44:29 PM

just the linksys

9/11/2006 2:59:52 PM

9/11/2006 3:00:10 PM

zone alarm

i'm connect through a wireless usb adapter, i've been wanting a new firewall for a while, zone alarm seems like a system hog or something

9/11/2006 3:20:43 PM

As soon as I can find some hardware that won't impact my power bill, I'm planning to give smoothwall a shot. For now, I don't like taking the ~$20/month hit by leaving any of my current computers on 24/7.

9/11/2006 4:09:29 PM

It's not so much WHICH firewall you use, but how you CONFIGURE the firewall you use. Don't get me wrong, some firewalls are a hell of a lot more powerful than others. Question is, do you need that overkill/are you willing to spend the time tweaking your network and learning the ins and outs to get it working?

Behind a NAT, Windows Firewall, and NoScript in Firefox, I feel decently safe. I also changed settings so the Windows Firewall is set to 32MB (maximum) and logs all successful connections/dropped packets. I check it periodically (once a month or so) to see if anything has happened.

9/11/2006 4:36:05 PM

check this page out: http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests_overview.php

scroll down and click on "View Results" button ...

the top checklist of features/tests is difficult to view, scroll down further for the "application filtering" and "leaktest" results, which are very telling.

Windows Firewall has the WORST results.

ZoneAlarm Free has horrible results too, however the Pro version is great.

i'd recommend Jetico, which is free and has top results ...

alternately, pay for Kaspersky or Zone Alarm Pro for a more user-friendly interface and equal results.

[Edited on September 11, 2006 at 5:31 PM. Reason : .]

9/11/2006 5:31:19 PM

none

9/11/2006 5:50:32 PM

notepad

9/11/2006 9:39:49 PM