BlackIce Defender

[Hematic]

Well i searched all the forums and found only passing references to BlackIce. I was curios about some of the more experienced peoples opinion on this firewall.

 

[Un4gIvEn1]

My opinion is... software firewalls don't offer the protection that hardware firewalls do...

 

[Hematic]

Thanks cap'n Obvious No but seriously, is this firewall worth the price? Or even barring that question is it even better than the other free ones like Kerio and Sygate?

 

[Lighter]

The most recent versions of all the firewalls pretty much do the same thing. However, the free versions are all limited in terms of functionality.

I use Sygate and ZoneAlarm on different machines and I've played with several other including BlackIce. Varying opinions about each have been voiced in the NTFS forums (do a search on firewalls, there's a lot of useful info posted). I've found all brands to work equally well at the core level if the clients are set up correctly/appropriately. The rest is just GUI differences and ease of settings.

In short, go with what you like best. If you're interested in or concerned about security, I would suggest a retail version. If you have broadband, go with the hardware firewall.

 

[Hematic]

I've got a cable modem, but dont know much about a hardware firewall or even if i have one to be honest with you. I have been using Sygate Personal Firewall for a while now, and im pretty pleased but if BlackIce will step it up a notch then i want to use that.

 

[Lighter]

Originally posted by Enyo
...And can i just say to all that go on about hardware firewalls they are not the be all and end all for home security, nor corporate security for that matter but thats a whole different kettle of fish...

Point noted, the benefits are primarily based on individual user needs.

Hematic, I neglected to specify that I use a software firewall on my primary machines and a hardware firewall on one router for my server. The server's use is dedicated to a specific purpose, which is why I don't need/use the software model on it.

 

[jonifen]

I think Blackice is a decent firewall - but I think if you can get something like Zonealarm, Kerio or Sygate for free then its not really worth buying as those mentioned 3 are actually quite good (I had packet loss problems with Sygate - but others think its good).

A hardware firewall is just another way to waste money unless it has another purpose (i.e. router)

If I had to buy a software firewall, I'd pay for norton as its so easy to set up, and its easy to maintain (my mum runs it on her machine and she never needs to touch it).

If I had to buy a hardware firewall, I'd buy a software firewall and go the pub to drink the rest of the money away