Best Free Firewall Software...

Winters

Ok, at the moment I have Sygate Personal Firewall on the other machine and am getting rid of it. Its pure rubbish, never works correctly and the sort. What im looking for is the best free firewall software about.

The setup I have is 2 pc's on lan with one having the modem in it. Problems seems to be to get a firewall that works correctly with the network. With the Sygate the whole net on this machine would go dead and only by disabling the firewall on the other pc [one with the modem] would I be able to get back.

So, anyone know of any good Free Firewall software out there that will actually not go crazy with a network?

software1

qwe

Asok

afaik outpost personal is free its fairly ok with networks

[Edit]think the url is www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/ or something[/edit]


fixed url

Capt'n Midnight

I'd go with Agnitum - unlike most of the other Windows firewalls it is not restricted to personal use only

Also it shows which apps are using which ports

Anyone know where it saves it's settings - then for a network rollout you could allow some local remote management - unlike the 2k/Xp firewalls.

Mutant_Fruit

Kerio

For several reasons...
1) Its free. (the advanced features time out after 30 days, but its still a 100% functioning firewall)

2) It allows great detail in the rules, while still making it very easy to grant/deny access. You can specify whether an app can take incoming connections from the internet, or make outgoing connectins to the internet, and the same again for a local network. So i can set my program to only take incoming connections from the lan, and only make outgoing to the internet... if i so wish.

3) It isn't bloated. Its not as small and slick as it used to be, but it does have a better UI now, so i can live with that. It only takes up 3.5megs of ram when its running, and next to no CPU. Quite unlike other firewall software **cough norton firewall cough**.

4) Did i mention it was free?

5) It displays a list of what programs are currnetly connected to the internet, and each program has a + tab beside it, so you can expand that program, and take a look at each individual connection it has made, and you can also see how fast each connection is going at. This makes it very easy to spot what's hogging your bandwidth.

6) It takes a hash of each program when you first make a rule for it, and if that program changes, the Firewall will know, and ask you if its ok. This stops virii pretending to be trusted app's.

Frank Grimes

Yeah, I'd say Kerio too. Been using it for ages now, never had a problem with it. Very configurable and it's not overly complicated to use.

ToxicPaddy

Yup Kerio is the best out there..

Tox

Winters

How does it run on networks though? I have computers connecting to the net through one PC, that PC will have the firewall on it.
I'm trying the Agnitum one at the moment and it is quite good i have to say. ive it a list of the IP addresses of the other PCs and it runs nicly. Any such option with Kerio?

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Mutant_Fruit
Kerio

For several reasons...
1) Its free. (the advanced features time out after 30 days, but its still a 100% functioning firewall

4) Did i mention it was free?

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_license_agreement.html

3. License After Trial Period
3.1. Home Users.
The Software is free for individuals using the Software at home on a single computer (Home Users). You will be able to use the Software after expiration of the Trial Period without any additional steps.

3.2. Other Users.
All users other than defined in Section 3.1 above have the option during the Trial Period of paying a license fee in order to be able to use the Software after expiration of the Trial Period. The Software is available as a single user license or a multi-user license. Single user licenses require each copy of the software to be registered individually. Multi-user licenses are issued a single registration number (License Key) which is registered online to create a digital certificate valid for all the users. If you do not pay the license fee before the Trial Period expires, the present License will be immediately terminated and you lose any right to the Software

Just a reminder - like most "free" firewalls it is not free for Business/commercial use. People who use their own laptops at work and having multiple home PC's would be a grey area..

If you have an old 486, two network cards and a floppy drive you can also use Gnatbox lite as a standalone firewall. Limited to 5 PC's on the internal LAN. Will try to dig up a link. It can be configured via it's web interface.