What Firewall for xp?

[keef247]

hi,
i did run sygate but it had some weird problems that ruined it for me.for example when ftp'in my xbox i had 2 disable sygate
so new format new firewall me thinks.... unless anyones got any theorys or solving lan problems?
anyhow if not what firewall. free or paid for i don't mind aslong as its good...

cheers for any suggestions

[Dav0s]

i ahve no problems with hardware firewal and xp firewall...i tend to stay away from any commercial software firewalls like ZA or anything made by symantec

[0iD]

I use Sygate & Agnitum Outpost. Soon to obsolete as i'm getting a firebox via work.

[Funkstar]

this has just reminded me, we have an unused firebox at work which no-one would miss. might have a play around with it some time...

[MSIC]

I use ZoneAlarm (prefer version 5 as nice and small vs version 6), for each of my home machines. My main firewall (inbound at least) is the hardware built into my Netgear router. Well, actually 2 routers, a DG834G plus a new MIMO router for wireless.
It seems to work well, all tested on 'Shields Up' goes well and havent observed any attacks on my PCs.
The only problem i have with ZoneAlarm, which i put up with, is that occasionally i put a new program on (ie a game) and then the game 'freezes', when it's actually ZoneAlarm asking for connection to the outside world but the box doesnt pop up because the game masks it. Can be annoying.

[herulach]

I use ZoneAlarm (prefer version 5 as nice and small vs version 6), for each of my home machines. My main firewall (inbound at least) is the hardware built into my Netgear router. Well, actually 2 routers, a DG834G plus a new MIMO router for wireless.
It seems to work well, all tested on 'Shields Up' goes well and havent observed any attacks on my PCs.
The only problem i have with ZoneAlarm, which i put up with, is that occasionally i put a new program on (ie a game) and then the game 'freezes', when it's actually ZoneAlarm asking for connection to the outside world but the box doesnt pop up because the game masks it. Can be annoying.

I find kerio to be a lot better than zone alarm, and that kind of behaivour is much preferable to the windows firewall one, which will let you game or hours and you only notice on closing it youve been asked if you want to block the game.

[Funkstar]

Perhaps ZAPro is better, but i couldn't stand they way it forced you to download a complete install file everytime ZA found a new version. And it didn't just download it, it sent you to the ZA site then onto Download.com to get it. Probably just trying to get you to buy Pro or another one of their suite, but it frustrated me.

[Moby-Dick]

Outpost pro is one of the nicer software firewalls I've come accross.

<stuck record>Just because sheilds up! says you are safe , doesn't mean you are actually safe.Its not a comprehensive pen test. I've seen machines I've deliberatly seeded with trojans pass Shields UP! so I'd take it with a big pinch of salt </stuck record>

interestingly enough there is a new MS online scan which looks to be quite promising.

[MSIC]

Sounds interesting ... post back if / when you have any further details. Could be useful to alot of people.

[Moby-Dick]

at the moment its in beta on http://safety.live.com . Seems to do a pretty through AV scan + Defrag + Disk check + open port scan. I'm quite impressed

[MSIC]

Seems like i passed the test ....

"Whoops. The scanner doesn’t work with your Web browser or operating system."

No problems found i guess!
(Am using Firefox 1.5, should have guessed..)

[0iD]

lol, that's what i got too

[Splash]

Been using FSecure Internet Security on desktops for a while, combined Smoothwall - all seems to work fairly well, with easy managability. Just tried MS ISA Server as a perimeter firewall but found it a bit heavyweight (not necessarily a bad thing, but for a home network...)

[oshta]

So is an old version of sygate ok?

Im at uni, so im protected from the outside world by there firewalls, and i have the winXP firewall running.
- But i was also runing sygate, to keep my fellow students out.

Just rebuild my machine (new hdd) and doing a quick sortout of programs, ive installed sygate pro v5.5 for now, just wonding if theres anything better?


Daniel

[ultim8um]

I'm still running Sygate Pro as it is the best of those I have played with... Of course now that sygate has been appropriated and the firewall software ditched, its probably time to investigate again

[Pdog]

Moby-Dick,

Thanks for posting the link to the Windows Live Safety Center. Thats a great resource. On another note I have signed up for the Windows Live Mail (Beta) Does anyone have any invites for that?


Pdog