Free Firewalls: Which one is your favourite...

[Matridom]

you can get it to send the log to a computer running their logviewer program It's not the best, but still a good little program.

thanx, i'll look into that.

[craigmodius]

As far as dropped connections go on DSL using pppoe, I find that on the pppoe settings tab, selecting "Connect on Demand: Max idle time 0 min" works better then keep alive. (kinda fuzzy logic i guess) Unless you're blocking pings and your ISP requires it

Buuuuuut if you're using cable then DHCP should be working fine out of the box. Unless you're blocking pings and your ISP requires it.

[arch0nmyc0n]

I dunno... ZA has just caused me so many headaches in the past I'm just prone to toss it in the fire and move on... I haven't tried it lately so I don't know but does it do automatic rule making like Norton's Firewall does? Cause I found that a nice little feature of Norton... and believe me I dislike Norton on the whole...

[craigmodius]

you can configure it in expert mode and in novice mode. meaning you can either specify things up front that you want to give access to or just run the program and say "Yes allow outgoing access and don't bug me about this program again" also you can flat out turn off incoming notices so you won't be bugged about them.

I know what you're saying about the HW firewalls being less hassle, but for me with all the spyware and worms and viruses going around, I think ZA is nice you should give it a try

Some of this debate is all Coke vs. Pepsi or Ford vs. Chevy, but it's good to get a view from both sides.

[Matridom]

As far as dropped connections go on DSL using pppoe, I find that on the pppoe settings tab, selecting "Connect on Demand: Max idle time 0 min" works better then keep alive. (kinda fuzzy logic i guess) Unless you're blocking pings and your ISP requires it

Buuuuuut if you're using cable then DHCP should be working fine out of the box. Unless you're blocking pings and your ISP requires it.

max idle *IS* set to 0, also the drop occures when there is activity on the line. I get enough traffic that i don't fear an idle drop.

[arch0nmyc0n]

I tried various firewalls a few months back and I didn't like them. I probably am just predisposed to hate them, but if I have to use one I'm gonna use Norton's just for the fact it's not as dumb at first. Free is nice, but this time I'll go paid over saving a few bucks.