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Desktop\laptop firewall software

By Ben "Iron" Damper ·
Hello everyone,

Just a quick question. What do you all recommend and or use for desktop and laptop firewall software?
At my company we are presently using McAfee Desktop firewall 8.0 but they are phasing it out. We are looking at going with something new from another vendor for our desktops and laptops that are out in the field and connect to various internet connections. All machines are Windows XP OS.

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Bah

by tnelson In reply to Desktop\laptop firewall s ...

Firewall software just slows your machine down. Just pony up for a cheap firewall/router (like the popular Linksys WRT54G). Plug it in to the internet connection, plug your machine into it (if you aren't using wireless), boom -- you're done. I've been doing this for years, and have never had a machine attacked from the outside.

You should be able to get a cheap 4-port router for ~$30, how much were you planning to spend on software?

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Bah!

by w2ktechman In reply to Bah

The network firewall has its usage, but a desktop firewall adds extra security.

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Some things to note

by w2ktechman In reply to Desktop\laptop firewall s ...

I have not had problems with Zone Alarm on my system at home. At work we had Symantec , and now Sygate. Both suck!
For no reason they need to be uninstalled and reinstalled or they start blocking everything except DHCP packets.
The last MS update that went out caused a headache with Sygate, out of the 70+ people on site here, 7 of them had to uninstall and reinstall it.

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Thanks

by Ben "Iron" Damper In reply to Some things to note

I am leaning towards Zone Alarm Pro myself.

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I should mention though

by w2ktechman In reply to Thanks

for zone alarm, I am not using hte pro version

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I use Sygate

by Tony Hopkinson In reply to Some things to note

not had a problem with it. Just the personal free thing at home mind, was this the 'professional' product?

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yes -- pro product

by w2ktechman In reply to I use Sygate

and our company tweaked it a little probably.
But Sygate has given me many a headache since the switch. The Symantec one had this problem, but it was much rarer. Since the sygate switch, I have seen a total loss of all networking just by turning the wireless on, or going from wireless to Land cable

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I think we can all agree...

by Benevolence In reply to yes -- pro product

... that Symantec really does suck! It is just for those who don't know any better really... like using Vista on a computer designed for rendering 3D rather than linux (place better comparison here)!

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Something.

by Absolutely In reply to Desktop\laptop firewall s ...

The important thing is to use protection every time.

Who's offering you the best deal?

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Well

by Ben "Iron" Damper In reply to Something.

We haven't begun to price anything yet since we just found out that were going to start looking. McAfee has always shot us a great price but since they are phasing out their desktop firewall product and the replacement product is only deployable via e policy orchestrator it's time to check out other avenues. So I figured I'd get a general consensus on what folks here use.

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