Firewalls

[pat]

Observations, from a casual user. No scientific test here.

Even though I only have a dial up connection, I thought I would try out some firewall software. I tried the free versions from Sygate and Zonealarm.

I think both user interfaces are easy to understand and use, but the Sygate software really destabilized my system. I only had it on my system for 5 days and I found myself reaching for the reset button 4 times. Screen freezes that not even ctrl, alt, delete would fix. I haven?t had to do that for months.

It took longer to connect to the Internet and for pages to load. Next I went to shields up site at:

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

I only did the, test my computer, and probe my ports, tests.

Sygate showed stealth on all tests except pop3, which showed as closed.

Zonealarm on the other hand showed everything as stealth.

With zonealarm installed, I can only say that everything works just fine, pages seem to load normally and it doesn?t take any longer to connect to the Internet.

Lastly, I would say that I was always under the impression that if you didn?t have an ?always on? Internet connection you really did not need a firewall. I can only say that judging by the amount of alarms I have been getting no one should be without a firewall.

I even back traced one to Korea.

I?m sure a lot of you already have zonealarm installed, but for those of you who were sitting on the fence like I was I recommend zonealarm found at:

http://www.zonelabs.com

Well, that?s my take. I would be interested in other opinions.

Thanks

Pat

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