OT: Free Firewalls

[jeffrey]

Hi,

I`ve been asked by my cousin to build her a fast gaming computer and wanted
the Pro`s and Con`s for two different Free firewalls. My cousin isn`t the
greatest when it comes to computers, especially security. She wants to have
a fast system to play online games line Final Fantasy XI. For me, I`m
behind a hardware firewall and using XP`s simple one-way builtin firewall,
but being a network admin and other things in my company, my system is very
protected.

I`ve read many posts from people suggesting either ZoneAlarms free version
firewall and Kerio free version firewall. I`ve looked at both sites and
checked out what each free version has to offer, compaired to the retail
version. It seems Kerio offers more in their free version then ZoneAlarm
does. My cousin doesn`t want to pay a year subscription for a firewall, so,
have to go with the free version types. Of all who has suggested and used
either version, which has the best options and functionality. All your
responses would be greatly welcomed, especially if it will help me from
making frequent trips for PC repairs.

Jeff

PS already have the AV picked out for her, just need a good firewall.

 

[Leythos]

I`ve been asked by my cousin to build her a fast gaming computer and wanted
the Pro`s and Con`s for two different Free firewalls. My cousin isn`t the
greatest when it comes to computers, especially security. She wants to have
a fast system to play online games line Final Fantasy XI. For me, I`m
behind a hardware firewall and using XP`s simple one-way builtin firewall,
but being a network admin and other things in my company, my system is very
protected.

Since it sounds like she'll be on a fast connection, DSL/Cable, get her a
NAT Router and let that be her firewall. A firewall like the many free
ones will be a problem for intensive online games if directly connected to
the internet. A simple NAT box (which is not a firewall) will protect her
from unsolicited inbound traffic. In most cases, where the system is
properly configured and the browser/email clients are locked down, that's
all that's needed to secure the computer.

 

[DJ Borell]

I`ve read many posts from people suggesting either ZoneAlarms free version
firewall and Kerio free version firewall.

Not sure about Kerio, but I've been using ZoneAlarm for a while and haven't
had any major problems with it. One reason I recommend it "non-techies"
(and Kerio may well do this, too) is that it seems much more intuitive than
other "personal" firewalls (particularly NPF). It can be set to either
automatically configure rules without pop up warnings, or, for those that
like to see what's going on, you can set it to manual and it will ask and
"learn" what programs are / are not allowed. Either way, if a program that
it doesn't recognize from it's collaborative database tries to connect, it
will ask the user to grant / deny permission.

On the flip-side, uninstalling ZA can be a real pain. It will, at times,
"forget" to uninstall it's TrueVector service which will disable internet
access completely until you do it manually. For the average user that does
not know how to manually disable a service, that can leave them scratching
their heads.

 

[jeffrey]

Hi Leythos,

I would do that, but she doesn`t want to spend any extra cash for a NAT
Router. She will be on a 26.5 Meg DSL connection, soon to be 100 Meg fiber.
As for the games, as long as I have the firewall setup correctly, she won`t
have problems running her online games. I run a bunch of online games on my
home system as well and haven`t had any problems with my hardware firewall
and MS firewall.

Jeff

 

[Leythos]

Hi Leythos,

I would do that, but she doesn`t want to spend any extra cash for a NAT
Router. She will be on a 26.5 Meg DSL connection, soon to be 100 Meg fiber.
As for the games, as long as I have the firewall setup correctly, she won`t
have problems running her online games. I run a bunch of online games on my
home system as well and haven`t had any problems with my hardware firewall
and MS firewall.

Your system and how she uses the machine are two different things. I've
found that almost everyone with a Windows PC with it directly connected to
the Net has something wrong with it - something they let in one way or
another. I don't even count the MS Firewall as a firewall, in fact I
disable it on all corporate clients systems. As for a NAT box, if you or
she values you/her time, $50 for a BEFSR41 router with NAT is worth the
cost.

Where is she getting a 26.5 Meg DSL connection, we're lucky to see them at
1.54mbps here, and cable only goes to 8mbps here.

 

[DJ Borell]

Hi Leythos,

I would do that, but she doesn`t want to spend any extra cash for a NAT
Router. She will be on a 26.5 Meg DSL connection, soon to be 100 Meg
fiber.

Is she getting the DSL for free? Otherwise...she'll shell out that kind of
$$ for the 'net, but not a few bucks for a NAT router? Wow.

 

[Rock]

Hi,

I`ve been asked by my cousin to build her a fast gaming computer and
wanted the Pro`s and Con`s for two different Free firewalls. My cousin
isn`t the greatest when it comes to computers, especially security. She
wants to have a fast system to play online games line Final Fantasy XI.
For me, I`m behind a hardware firewall and using XP`s simple one-way
builtin firewall, but being a network admin and other things in my
company, my system is very protected.

I`ve read many posts from people suggesting either ZoneAlarms free
version firewall and Kerio free version firewall. I`ve looked at both
sites and checked out what each free version has to offer, compaired to
the retail version. It seems Kerio offers more in their free version
then ZoneAlarm does. My cousin doesn`t want to pay a year subscription
for a firewall, so, have to go with the free version types. Of all who
has suggested and used either version, which has the best options and
functionality. All your responses would be greatly welcomed, especially
if it will help me from making frequent trips for PC repairs.

Jeff

PS already have the AV picked out for her, just need a good firewall.

You might want to look at Sygate as well. They have a free firewall.

 

[jeffrey]

Hi,

We live in Japan, I currently have 26.5 Meg DSL, can`t get fiber yet, not
offered in my area. As for the routers, no such luck on picking something
up at that price range.

Jeff

 

[Ted]

I like Zone Alarm Free. I put it on lots of computers and while being very
secure, it is also easy to use for most people.
Ted

 

[Guest]

I use Sygate on my work PC. What a great product. Might want to look at that.

 

[Guest]

I used ZoneAlarm and hated it. It caused more problems and headaches. NIS
came on my new Dell. I uninstalled it because it was sucking up all my
resources and was not user friendly. I am using the free download from
Sygate. I will be upgrading to the pro version soon. It is a very nice
interface and it also is user friendly. You should check this product out.
It is highly rated in the industry.
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_pro.htm

 

[jeffrey]

Hi,

I checked out Sygate personal firewall, it seems Kerio free version still
offers more then either Zone Alarm or Sygate. I might install the Kerio and
Sygate free version on 2 of my home PC`s to test them out though, I don`t
want to go through the hassel of installing and uninstalling ZA though.
Thanks for the input.

Jeff

 

[Guest]

I just checked out Kerio's website. It looks like a very nice product. I
think I will install it on my second home PC and see how it works. Thanks
for the info.