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General discussion

Firewalls which is best?

Dec 3, 2003 3:37PM PST

I am leaving Zone Alarm for many reasons!

So now I would like to know what you think about a replacement.

Your input would be deeply appreciated!

Discussion is locked

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Re:Firewalls which is best?
Dec 3, 2003 4:06PM PST

Can't say which is the best because most firewall I tried are doing their job. The only thing that will help us decide is whether we like the way it handle things, how the firewall works with other programs that we are using or how our system can handle the firewall program.

ZA is a good firewall but I like Outpost, Look'n'Stop and Kerio than ZA Grin

http://www.looknstop.com/En/download.htm
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html
http://www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html

All of the above are offering free firewalls.

To see how they stand - http://www.pcflank.com/art41c.htm

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Re:Firewalls which is best?
Dec 3, 2003 8:13PM PST

I have not tried it, and haven't seen it mentioned lately, but many people used to recommend Black Ice. Sorry you are having ZA issues; if you have the patience, they can be worked out.

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I haven't looked at it lately either....
Dec 3, 2003 10:46PM PST

but it used to be marketed as a firewall. The complaint at the time was that it was really only an intrusion detection system, not a true firewall.

As for firewalls, I have ZA free on WinME and Kerio 2.1.5 on WinXP. Both have worked well for me. Kerio has a bit more of a learning curve but it is much more flexible.

Kerio forum with some suggested default rules.

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Re:I am curious Keith
Dec 4, 2003 3:13AM PST

why haven't you upgraded to version 4.0.8?

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I'm assuming you're talking about Kerio....
Dec 4, 2003 10:33AM PST

Kerio 4 had bad reviews regarding the larger footprint and certain features/problems. Kerio 2.1.5 has a small footprint and isn't bloated with a lot of features that aren't really required in a firewall (i don't need a popup stopper,...). It does what I need a firewall to do without any bells and whistles.

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Re:I'm assuming you're talking about Kerio....
Dec 4, 2003 10:58AM PST

precisely why I too am staying with v. 2.1.5

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Re:Firewalls which is best?
Dec 4, 2003 11:52AM PST

I love McAfee Firewall. I used to use Norton Personal Firewall for years,but gave it up after seeing a story on Tech TV. They rated McAfee as their top pick out of roughly 5 or 6 top names. This isn't free though; you can get a free 30 day trial at mcafee.com .

Currently I am online with my laptop wirelessly at my sisters in another state. McAfee has pickedup roughly 20 attempts today, while they use Norton still and had not shown any hit attempts! This is now enough reason for me to stay with McAfee!!

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Re:Re:Firewalls which is best?
Dec 5, 2003 1:33AM PST

Thank you all for your opinions, I have settled on Kerio 2.1.5, I have tried to install 4.0.8 and had an error everytime so I had to run GO Back.

Thanks again.