FireWalls- Opinions? Rants? It's decision time.

[AzureBlaze]

So I'm posting on the internet without a firewall.
(shhh?)
Or skip down to bottom if you don't care this bit:

Why? PANDA had a stupid error, and the fix was "uninstall it then re-install it". I rather figured it wouldn't be that simple, it wasn't, and now until they tech-support me, I'm left drifting around without a firewall.

Now I know there's more "hype" then there is truth swirling around firewalls. For starters your PC doesn't fill up with viruses the minute a firewall somehow gets broken. All kinds of madness does not go down the minute your pc is in the 'unprotected' state. The joint is full of scare stories to keep everyone spending tons of dough on these things.

BUT.
There's no point in being dumb about it either. I dont use outlook, don't surf for pr0n, and the only thing I'll torrent is the occaisional dattebayo ep directly from them. However, one time this PC DID get a virus (panda killed it) it seemingly came out of no-where because one morning it wasn't there, no one was home that day, and by afternoon time *bam* it was there and gone. So a virus is more sneaky than one may think.

So what fire wall do YOU use?
What do you trust? What firewall doesn't eat up every resource of the pc? What's not going to block everything I do and slow down my torrent of anime? What one ACTUALLY works and won't give you hell or break or let viruses thru?

I do have a network (wireless) here that has 2 pcs, a printer, and the ps2 (for psu!) soon to have a 3rd pc directly wired to the router. Of course, I play online with consoles and the PC...so it needs to not block that. Obviously I'm a little tired of Panda, which was a resource hog, and could get achy-breaky sometimes. (this time's the worst, I want to bail! I'll also have to buy another year of it in 19 days, so it's prime-time to get out)

Any opinions or what you use is appriciated. This place seems to be full of people who don't break their PCs, and have the ability to see through scare-mongering and hype. I didnt want to ask in any store because it's bound to be full of bias, like a lot of "online review" places.

[Zarode]

I don't use a firewall myself, since I basically rely on my router.

What I DO use is Peerguardian (http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/). Basically, keeps pesky parties that would usually want to have one two with your computer, out. If you are still having trouble finding a firewall, I suggest NOT going the retail route. They like CPU, your speed is DELICIOUS. ;>

[ngagerebel]

I use Zone alarm, I like it and I pair i with my AVAST anti virus software, Zone alarm can be a bitch at first with its pesky *this program is trying to access this resource* or *this program is trying to access the internet* and you can shut it down with no problems and I do like the stop all network activity button on it. as for PC power usage I never really experienced any problem with that.


and even with it running I am still able to allow my xbox360 to stream media from my computer

[SabZero]

I'd prefer a nice router, but a software FW is a good addition on Windows.

[VioletSkye]

Router + Comodo, works great for most people.

Comodo Firewall Pro (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/).

I personally use a Watchguard Firebox hardware firewall, but not everyone needs/can afford to have something like that.

[Sord]

I use comodo for my firewall and avast for my anti-virus (both of which are free for home use.) I also used to torrent plenty of anime (though I've gotten quite bored with it now,) so I can tell you from experience that is doesn't lag the hell out of me. I have a gig of ram with a 2GHz processor, and I'm running XP (vistas such a resource hog.) So if you're running resources similar to mine, you'll probably be fine. One thing about Comodo though, it's defence+ feature is annoying as all fucking hell. I would recommend disabling it.

[VioletSkye]

If you want a cheap hardware firewall that won't throttle your connection, the reviews on this one are good. I haven't personally used one, but for $47 it may be worth checking out.

ZyXEL ZyWALL (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181104)

[amtalx]

Unless you are proficient in configuring hardware firewalls, not using a firewall is incredibly stupid. A few months back there were two research firms (one in the US the other in Germany) ran a study to determine how long it took for unprotected Windows machines to be infected without any protection. The times ranged from the shortest at 4 minutes, to the longest at 16 hours. And this is without using any web or email, just unrequested inbound connections.

[VioletSkye]

For most users a good software firewall like Comodo (or even ZoneAlarm, although I prefer Comodo over ZA) is the best choice. Although most hardware firewalls don't require much configuration at all to be efficient/effective, they do have a tendency (unless specifically configured) to allow any and all outgoing traffic (although that is changing since many newer firewalls have virus/malware detection built in.) So if your pc is infected and sending out requests/packets that it shouldn't be ;) then obviously you aren't very well protected, whereas software firewalls will usually prompt you if a request for something to be sent isn't recognized/allowed. And because there are so many types of infections these days scouring your pc for info to send out it really is wise to have a good software firewall installed that is easy to configure.

However a software firewall works on the application layer whereas a hardware firewall works on a network layer which means even a software firewall can be vulnerable to exploits that are specifically written to take advantage of a firewall's coding flaws (which happens more and more as malicious software is written to exploit those flaws.)

[ngagerebel]

For most users a good software firewall like Comodo (or even ZoneAlarm, although I prefer Comodo over ZA) is the best choice. Although most hardware firewalls don't require much configuration at all to be efficient/effective, they do have a tendency (unless specifically configured) to allow any and all outgoing traffic (although that is changing since many newer firewalls have virus/malware detection built in.) So if your pc is infected and sending out requests/packets that it shouldn't be ;) then obviously you aren't very well protected, whereas software firewalls will usually prompt you if a request for something to be sent isn't recognized/allowed. And because there are so many types of infections these days scouring your pc for info to send out it really is wise to have a good software firewall installed that is easy to configure.

However a software firewall works on the application layer whereas a hardware firewall works on a network layer which means even a software firewall can be vulnerable to exploits that are specifically written to take advantage of a firewall's coding flaws (which happens more and more as malicious software is written to exploit those flaws.)


you make a very good point. I will look into comodo, does it have the pesky annoying pop ups that ZA has?

[VioletSkye]

you make a very good point. I will look into comodo, does it have the pesky annoying pop ups that ZA has?
Yeah, there is still a "learning" period that requires you to allow or deny various applications which although annoying is necessary. That's really the entire benefit of a software firewall is that it more easily gives you the ability to block unwanted outgoing traffic (which can be helpful in discovering particular infections you may not have realized were there.) Once you have it "trained" though it's pretty much quiet lol. Although if you already have ZA installed there probably isn't any compelling reason to install Comodo, but if at some point you reformat and are reinstalling your apps, maybe give Comodo a try and see if you like it :)

[AzureBlaze]

Well, thanks to all of this good help, I once again have a fire wall.
I decided to go with the Comodo one, and it is going fine so far. Yes a few things it asks you about at first, but now they're past.
Note:
Panda still hasn't written back to tech support its own program! This is seriously making me glad I switched off of it to comodo. I would NOT reccommend Panda for anyone who is looking for a wall. The broken piece of it still remains, but that isn't affecting comodo (that I can see)

I got to it fast enough also, apparently (thanks to messages here), as it didnt detect any virus or malware w/e's on the system. It's last hurdle will be seeing how it works with the other items on the network. I did look at the Xyell Xywall thing, but ALL new-egg reviews said it was way hard to use. I am of the variety that wants something to work, then fade into the background, while not having to baffle through waves of difficult info on it.
Thanks to all who have answered,