What Firewall Do You Like / Use?

[TCH-Thomas]

I am in the process of upgrading to Windows 7 and have until now used Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS) as my firewall.

To use KIS with Windows 7 it needs to be upgraded to version 2010 which is too bloated in my opinion.

 

So my question to our forum members is, what firewall do you use?

 

Thanks.

[TCH-Dick]

I use Kaspersky as well and so do most of the other staff. I agree that KIS can be a bit bloated but I disable most of the stuff that I have no use for such as the antispam and privacy control.

[youneverknow]

If you use a router of some sort, it will act as a firewall closing all ports except 80 and a few others. Windows firewall built into windows 7 is good in conjuction with the router. I used to use ZoneAlarm but it uses lots of system resources.

youneverknow

[sardaukar]

using Windows XP - and ZoneAlarm free edition firewall. So far, so good with ZA.

[Madmanmcp]

So my question to our forum members is, what firewall do you use?

 

I agree with youneverknow, a router and the Windows Firewall will be just fine.

[Rosanne]

I am in the process of upgrading to Windows 7 and have until now used Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS) as my firewall.

To use KIS with Windows 7 it needs to be upgraded to version 2010 which is too bloated in my opinion.

 

So my question to our forum members is, what firewall do you use?

 

Thanks.

 

 

I rely on a router and a browser plugin - FireFox NoScript. In the interest of being thorough, I also install Comodo's free Internet Security (antivirus, firewall, Defense+). I tend to leave the Defense+ turned off, because it's pretty aggressive and I don't usually need it, thanks to NoScript. No scripts are going to run unless I've authorized their domains.

 

When I'm out from behind the router (i.e, traveling with a laptop), I turn on the entire Comodo suite.

 

Edited to add: I imagine you've come up with a solution, since I just saw the date, and this question was posted quite a while back. What did you go with?

Edited July 24, 2011 by Rosanne

[TCH-Thomas]

I went with Kaspersky and still have it.

[carbonize]

Sygate was the best firewall I ever used but then Symantec bought the company. These days I just use my router and Windows firewall. You can set Windows firewall to block all outgoing connections unless you have allowed them and there is a program somewhere that pops up notifications to make it easier to monitor what is being blocked and to easily allow them. But as I don't download anything I think may be dodgy I really have no need to block outgoing connections just incoming.

[SteveW]

I used Trend Micro Internet Security for about 5 years and thought that it, and especially its firewall, were very good.

 

However, at renewal time I learned that I'd be automatically upgraded to their new "Titanium" product which according to my online reading seemed to be a very much changed product with a simplified interface (it was already perhaps too simple), fewer configuration options, and, what caught my attention, no longer included a firewall. IF that's true, it could be because the standard Windows Vista/7 Firewalls are now so much improved over the old Windows XP version. But I still use WinXP.

 

Since the Titanium conversion looked like it was going to be a drastic change in any event, I figured why not make a drastic change that I chose myself instead of one that I hadn't, so I switched to Kaspersky Internet Security 2011.

 

Its out-of-the-box default settings for things seem to be quite secure, not requiring adjustments, but for those, like me, who appreciate having lots of configuration options, there are plenty (for both antivirus and firewall), enough to be overwhelming.

 

The biggest firewall change I made was, using instructions from the Kaspersky forum, to block all unapproved outbound connections in addition to unwanted inbound connections.

 

I ran an initial antivirus scan after setting all the detection settings to their highest possible levels, and KIS did not find any threats that Trend Micro had overlooked during the 5 years of use, so my confidence in TMIS seems to have been justified.

 

The KIS reports (such as activity blocked by the firewall) can be difficult to understand, but they're more informative and better formatted than the TMIS ones were.

 

It took me a few days to understand the firewall settings well enough to create custom settings that were what I wanted, so it's more complicated than the old TMIS was, but the fine-grained control could be useful, and it's interesting.

 

Basically, it seems to have very good settings out of the box, fortunately. When you decide to do some tweaking, it can be very confusing.

 

I'd recommend it as seeming to be a very good AV/firewall, though I've only been using it for a couple of weeks.

[Prel]

I used Symantec Norton 360 Antivirus and Firewall last version in my PC´s.

I used Spyboyh last version.

Good Day and Work for all.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Prel

[brownlock]

Same as @prel. Using since more then seven years Symantec Norton Antivirus and Firewall with different updates and versions. Never had any problems way back. So i can advise it with quiet conscience.

Edited November 26, 2011 by brownlock