So to start, Comodo Firewall Pro 2.4.x (despite the name, it's free) has been my current choice a while now ... and finally I have some numbers to back it up ... they're also now the best rated firewall:

http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php#firewalls-ratings

Beyond the link, I would just like to point out some of the major firewall players from their dataset... and show WHY you don't want to use them.

These are great or good, but most (not all) of them cost money:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comodo Firewall Pro 2.4.18.184                           FREE   9475    Excellent
Jetico Personal Firewall 2.0.0.28 beta                          9375    Excellent
Outpost Firewall PRO 4.0 (1024.700.292)                         8700    Very good
ZoneAlarm Pro 7.0.362.000                                       8600    Very good
Lavasoft Personal Firewall 2.0.1019.7604 (700)                  8500    Very good
Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0.0.119                           8375    Very good
Jetico Personal Firewall 1.0.1.61 Freeware               FREE   7750    Very good
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2007 15.30.1151         7000    Good
F-Secure Internet Security 2007 7.01.128                        6625    Good


These suck, but EVERYBODY thinks they're ok, and some people actually buy them:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norton Internet Security 2007 10.2.0.30                         3100    Very poor
McAfee Internet Security Suite 2006 8.0                         2325    Very poor
ZoneAlarm Free 7.0.302.000                               FREE   1500    Very poor
Outpost Firewall Free 1.0.1817.1645                      FREE   1000    None
Panda Antivirus + Firewall 2007 6.00.00                          650    None
AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall 7.5.431                             500    None
Windows Firewall XP SP2                                  FREE      0    None

9/28/2007 1:21:03 AM

i, for one, hate all software firewalls

9/28/2007 11:20:11 AM

i've been using the sygate pro version for a while now.




it does it's job.

9/28/2007 11:25:24 AM

uh, thats just leak testing.

Wouldnt it be more useful to rate a firewall on it's inbound protection?

9/28/2007 1:18:21 PM

^ word

and

Quote :

"i, for one, hate all software firewalls"

9/28/2007 1:33:41 PM

Quote :

"i, for one, hate all software firewalls "

agreed. except windows firewall...it give me a false sense of security for some reason


if you people are really worried about security, just buy a pix501 and be done with it.

9/28/2007 1:49:06 PM

Quote :

"if you people are really worried about security, just buy a pix501 and be done with it."

this is a very good idea

also, the only software-ish firewall i like is pfSense - that shit rocks.

9/28/2007 2:49:28 PM

Wow, so that was a much more negative response than I expected ...

I may not know as much about networking as some people in this thread, but I do know that having effective leak protection is a -good thing- when it comes to a normal user that likes to get themselves into trouble. For us, sure we can get by with technical solutions, or nothing when we know what we're doing.

However, these days a normal user's computer should be setup with 3 forms of protection, Antivirus, Antispyware, and a Firewall. Does that mean that a software firewall is the best? Hell no. But I don't expect a common user to fork over an additional ~$500 for a pix501; nor do I expect them to be super-excited to kick up another machine to use as a *nix-based firewall for their network.

The trick is to balance technology out so that people don't have to think about what they're doing or how it's working, but just think/feel/know that it DOES work. And then, when the best working solution for them becomes free, now that user's experience at their computer becomes less of a hassle. People hate having to fork over more money for another A/V, A/S, or FW; now here's a firewall that has a friendly interface and is good at keeping that user safe without causing them to pay a penny.

I wasn't for a second meaning this should be used to replace any Cisco hardware in a corporate/office environment.

The main purpose for my post was to encourage people who were wondering "hmm, I heard I need a firewall on my computer, what is it and what's the best one?", to wonder no longer.

9/28/2007 4:32:03 PM

or put them behind a NAT

then they don't need software based protection.

9/28/2007 4:55:14 PM

Alright, well fwiw, it's a great Application Firewall ... it does more than just protect the network, it tells you when something is trying to access the screen, the keyboard, protected files, etc.

9/28/2007 8:48:16 PM

Gotta keep in mind though that the average user just doesnt want to know its there at all... Give me a software firewall that will NEVER prevent me from doing what I normally do without having to see it ask me a question or remind me to update it or block content or crash my browser/program/computer .... Then Ill say you have a decent software firewall... People just dont want to deal with that crap any longer, so software firewalls lost alot of popularity. I for one, havent even looked at them since the annoying days of norton antivirus

But, maybe ill load one and give it a new chance next time I buy a new laptop... So for the chance that that happens, keep the suggestions coming !!

9/28/2007 11:36:35 PM

Quote :

"windows firewall...it give me a false sense of security for some reason"

which is why i still run it

Quote :

"Give me a software firewall that will NEVER prevent me from doing what I normally do without having to see it ask me a question or remind me to update it or block content or crash my browser/program/computer .... Then Ill say you have a decent software firewall."

even if windows firewall is ineffective, it does this for me...i oftentimes forget it's running

9/29/2007 10:06:37 AM

pfSense

http://www.pfsense.com

9/29/2007 2:39:17 PM

it honestly sounds like your promoting the product like an ad. You should buy ad space here if really like them...

9/30/2007 2:36:46 PM

as long as i can block everything thing inbound from china, i really dont have any issues

9/30/2007 6:26:09 PM

the score is bs anyway, it does a 125 for passing with default settings, 100 for passing on max settings, 0 for not passing. thus with 77 tests, zonealarmpro only failed 2 of them. That and they do not specify wich of the copanion products were running with zomealarm, i have found that if you run the entire zoenalarm suite of products most things get cought during install, not when they dial out or try and look out. Of course, i have another .... 10 years of updates on my 'special' copy i got forever ago, so i am good to go

9/30/2007 7:31:07 PM

^ that wasn't english...it wasn't even close

9/30/2007 9:59:56 PM

zonealarm keeps getting slower and slower

and slower


an

d sl

ower



a



n







d










s





















l

10/1/2007 3:01:22 PM