Firewalls: Created Equally?

[Mista K6]

Hi, I just got cable internet and I was setting up a firewall. I was wondering if the standard XP firewall is just as good as the McAfee one I also got. The McAfee one takes up a alot more resources to run, so if they are the same, I'd rather use the Windows one. Right now I'm running the McAfee one. Thx, : peace2: Mista K6

[minibubba]

the winXP built in firewall is a joke. I don't know how the McAfee FW holds up, but ZoneAlarm is great, not to mention Free. It's also pretty easy on the resorces.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

*Edit: You can use this page and the grey links in the middle to test your firewall. But if you are using a router with a built in firewall it will be testing that fw and not the one on your computer.

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

:cheers:

[Mista K6]

I was waiting for someone to say that, looked like a joke to me too (no options, etc). Yah, the McAfee fire wall is awesome. It blocks anything I dont want coming in, and has tons of options, plus, it was free when I got the cable. A very good deal. I think I might disable some of the other aspects of it tho (it all runs under the McAfee security center) like spam killer, as I already have a spam program that runs fine. Thx for the reply, : peace2: Mista K6

[Mr. C]

Around here, Sygate is a favorite;

http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php

As good as ZoneAlarm (which I use till my next clean install) and easier on system resouces

[JediAgent]

Hardware firewall.

Possible option of you have a spare P133 w/2 NIC's...

https://www.smoothwall.org

[asklepios]

if u can part away with few of your resources then i must say that McAfee firewall is far ahead of anything available right now in the market.
it even kicks Norton's a$$ when it comes to protecting you but if you you are on very low resources then you should go with sygate...easier on resources as compared to Zone Alarm and provides eqiuvalent protection.

[JediAgent]

Have you ruled out a hardware firewall already? Did i miss that?

[Mista K6]

Nah, I dont need anymore stuff in my case that I already have. However, I uninstalled everything except for the fire wall and it cleared up a lot of the junk in my task manager. So its all good now. It's good to hear McAfee is the best :thumb: . : peace2: Mista K6

[JediAgent]

Firewall -> External Device.

Firewall = Router.

https://www.smoothwall.org

[kane2g]

Hey Jedi,
thanks for the link. Looks like a perfect way to go. But Im sure they just dont know what to do with it, so they arent really considering it as an option. But its best way to go AFAIK

[gh0stsurf]

heh I gave up on zonealarm and went with a linksys router with nat. the reason being that most of the time zapro would just screw up my comp. Not sure why, but occasionally vsdata95.vxd or just the program itself would corrupt and I'd have to uninstall just to get internet access back not to mention that I also had to reinstall my tcp/ip stack becuz it corrupted that too...ARghhh!!!!


However, Zonalarm is really good. Just don't go pro