Recommended firewalls for uTorrent

[Haze]

Zone Alarm is really unstable in pre-NT OSes (and a shitty firewall overall anyway). I suggest you uninstall it and find another firewall.

So after this I decided to do some research into which free firewalls are actually compatible to a degree for comfortable use with uTorrent. We're not looking at hardware/embedded firewalls here and certainly not the Windows XP SP2 built-in one. This to make this list also of use to those less tech-savvy, e.g. those family members whose computers you are also maintaining. It seemed a good idea to not only tell people which firewalls not to use, as according to uTorrent's FAQ, but also which would then be recommended.

Most of my findings I've written down on my blog, but of course input from the uTorrent community matters most. Following information from a few other threads the list of possibilities seems to be the following:

Outpost Firewall Free - No technical support. Reportedly a few people with problems when it comes to uTorrent? Firon reports BSODs, strike one!

Kerio Personal Firewall v2.1.5 - Favored by many but the "old" status may put people off? Seemingly very popular here.

Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall - The up-to-date 30-days trial but afterward free-mode version. Reportedly way more bloated compared to the last freeware version mentioned above.

Sygate Personal Firewall Free - Discontinued, but who knows?

SoftPerfect Personal Firewall - Any experience with this anyone?

NetVida Safetynet - requires registration but seems free to use, but what about compatibilty?

Jetico Personal Firewall - some possible problems? Overall well-liked but very technical.

So I'm looking for feedback on these freely available firewalls. Or perhaps other suggestions. What are your opinions or do you have any previous positive or negative experience with any of the mentioned firewalls? In particular of course when it comes to uTorrent.

I'll update both this post and my blog post accordingly. Thanks in advance!

[Firon]

Outpost causes BSoDs. The only firewall I can really recommend is look 'n stop firewall.

[Ultima]

Kaspersky Anti-Hacker is another that can be recommended =]

[tjobo]

Common sense, regular updates and a good antiviir have protected me against threats for years now. But still though, I recommend most of my friends to use a firewall.

[Haze]

Outpost causes BSoDs. The only firewall I can really recommend is look 'n stop firewall.

Kaspersky Anti-Hacker is another that can be recommended =]

Though both being good recommendations it seems neither have a free version available, which kind of was the point of this list. Unless you can enlighten me otherwise. However the first post has been edited accordingly. And perhaps the best advice is of course you can't be cheap when it comes to security.

[Firon]

A FreeBSD router with m0n0wall. Just put together a cheap PC, put some NICs in it, and voilá, you've got a powerful hardware firewall.

[anoxan]

...We're not looking at hardware/embedded firewalls here...

well, then you're not looking at much. sorry to say, but damn near all software firewalls suck. the only half-decent ones available aren't free, so your only alternative if you really need a firewall, is to buy/make a hardware firewall.

you don't need to know when your firewall is blocking someone. you just need to know if it's on or not--usually determined by wether or not the power led on your wall is on.

seriously though, why not just get a router? they're around the same price as a software firewall, and they're a lot easier to configure.

if you read the directions, that is.

oh, they also don't pop up little false alarms which cause people to start panicking, for no reason at all.

but if you want an answer to your question, use the sp2 firewall, or go into your nic's properties>tcp/ip properties>click the advanced button in the general tab>tcp/ip filtering properties in the options tab, and go nuts.

dare I say, this was a productive post. I just proved the uselessness of software firewalls, displayed the obvious superiority of the most basic hardware firewalls vs software, and showed you how to use the driver-level firewall embedded in windows since windows 95...if you understood those directions. if not, I'll write up a little guide with pics.

edit: firon, I'm sure you know of the tcp/ip filtering settings; think it could be a good thing to show people how to use this? I've never had problems using this method, and I'd be happy to end these software firewall questions once and for all.

[Haze]

well, then you're not looking at much. sorry to say, but damn near all software firewalls suck. the only half-decent ones available aren't free, so your only alternative if you really need a firewall, is to buy/make a hardware firewall...

seriously though, why not just get a router? they're around the same price as a software firewall, and they're a lot easier to configure. ...

Though sound advice on its own of course, I think you kind of missed the point of the post in the first place. It was compiled with the intend to help those not so tech-savvy with a quick solution to what's mostly lacking in the uTorrent FAQ and replies to similar topics on the forum: software alternatives.

When asked to dump their "Zone Alarm", "Norton" or "McAffee" on this forum what's missing is a follow-up. And if there is one it's mostly goes no further than "install something else." So the idea is to explore this "something else."

Of course putting money towards a commercial package is "better". And of course a hardware/embedded firewall is even better than that. But I don't see the average consumer tinkering away at their homemade firewall. Nor do I recommend my less tech-savvy uncles or aunts to go out and setup a m0n0wall-box.

If you've read the blog post linked in the first post you'll see that embedded firewalls are definitely recommended, even before you addressed this (again) in this thread.

Now I'm very grateful for the rest of your advice as well, I can do something with it and you've probably made me a wiser user today. But again, this wasn't the intend of the original post.

Hope that clarifies!

[anoxan]

but if you want an answer to your question, use the sp2 firewall, or go into your nic's properties>tcp/ip properties>click the advanced button in the general tab>tcp/ip filtering properties in the options tab, and go nuts.

actualy...I didn't miss the point.

damn, I've never had to quote myself before...

[Haze]

but if you want an answer to your question' date=' use the sp2 firewall, or go into your nic's properties>tcp/ip properties>click the advanced button in the general tab>tcp/ip filtering properties in the options tab, and go nuts.

actualy...I didn't miss the point.

damn, I've never had to quote myself before...

But I don't see the average consumer tinkering away at their homemade firewall. Nor do I recommend my less tech-savvy uncles or aunts to go out and setup a m0n0wall-box.

Okay... I'll hand those instructions to my uncles and aunts then and see what they can make of it.

[dbunder]

I like Sygate. Didn't know development was discontinued, but it doesn't matter. It works as advertised and hasn't had any issue with µTorrent.

I tried Look n Stop firewall for a couple of weeks, but it just ended up being more trouble than it was worth. I may try it again once the dev company refines it a tiny bit more.

[nascent]

The reason there aren't many follow ups to "dump <insert name of freeware software firewall here>, is because there isn't one that hasn't been said a billion times over. Software firewalls can only do so much.

There is very little difference between software firewalls from a security point of view, so people telling you to use one instead of another usually is pointless as the margin of security improvements is minimal.

Let's take a drunkenly conjured real life situation:

A person that walks everywhere can always buy more comfortable shoes - but at the end of the day it's not the same as driving everywhere.

Hardware and software firewalls are as different security-wise as shoes and cars are transport-wise. There's only so far you can do with software:

- Have a reputable software firewall.

- Have a reputable antivirus.

- Have a reputable antispyware app.

- Keep your computer (OS and applications) patched.

- Ensure no ports are open on your unnecessarily.

- Use common sense.

Bear in mind software firewalls try to intercept data, whereas hardware firewalls control the data and forward it in the first place.

[Dark Shroud]

I have a few things to say about this. First, I do have a Linksys Firewall NAT router protecting my network. Second all computers in my network run a software firewall as a safety net just in case something does get in.

Now then, there is no reason to tell someone to dump McAfee other than price, meaning they paid for it. McAfee works great and doesn't interfear with a program once you set it to server access. I've been using it for 7 years now without a problem. And it has helped me out a quite a few times according to the logs.

Now in an ironic twist the built in Windows XP SP2 firewall which always gets unfairly picked on has never had any remote exploits. Sure it doesn't provide any outbound packet filtering which is only relevant if your computer is already owned in which case any firewall could be disabled anyways, but at least it doesn't leave you wide open to a remote attacker. And the security for Vista is actually looking very good.

[Firon]

http://utorrent.com/faq.php#I_get_very_high_CPU_use_when_running_.C2.B5Torrent.21

http://utorrent.com/faq.php#.C2.B5Torrent_crashes.21

That reason enough to dump it? Of course, this would only be if it happens to you.

[Dark Shroud]

That's the first I've ever heard of that. For the past 7 years my cousin and I have used McAfee with everything including Kazaa without a problem. I'd say there was more than just McAfee Personal Firewall to blame there. Probably McAfee Privacy Service or Quick Clean as well. Or one of the old copies that let people screw with all the little settings. McAfee used to be pretty bad at that.

Of course most complaints I've heard from people about McAfee were on some of their really old crap. But oh well, I'll keep recommending it to people until I meet someone first hand who had problems with it or I have my own problems (that's not my fault for screwing with settings.) I'm going to have to do some search on this to fine out more.