Comodo Firewall Review
I have used Comodo firewall and I felt it offered better protection over the default Windows firewall. There were two main reasons for me to believe Comodo firewall was the best. First was that it gave plenty of pop-ups asking me whether or not to allow programs from accessing different ports – a feeling that I am in control of what’s happening on my machine. Second, it seemed to pass almost all the different types of firewall tests I could find on the Internet. Comodo’s is the best among all of the software firewalls. There are hardware firewalls, and then there are software firewalls. Hardware firewalls are router or modem-based and offer the best protection to anything behind that firewall – a computer or an entire network. That means if you have a router-based firewall working, you do not need a software firewall. That also means there is no harm in using a software firewall in addition to the hardware firewall. Features: In addition to normal firewall processes, Comodo Firewall offers you HIPS-based protection. This is visible under the name of Defense+. This Defense+ was present in previous versions too, but the one in version 6 is completely customizable. In short and simple words, HIPS means prevention-based technology. If the firewall suspects any application, it will run the app in a light sandbox. This, sandboxing, is a plus point for Comodo firewall over other software firewalls. For average users of the Internet, there is no need to get into Defense+ and configure it. It learns automatically as you use your computer and as time passes – the alerts you receive – reduce significantly. The only problem I still found with this firewall during my short duration of use was that it wouldn’t specify the IP addresses of applications trying to access your computer ports. ZoneAlarm does this well, and that is why a year or two ago, I had said ZoneAlarm is better than Comodo Firewall as it allows me to know the origin and destination of packets that my ISP sends via my computer to test the authenticity of Internet usage. However, the free version of ZoneAlarm does not appear in the green list at Matousec, so I stopped using it. If you are asked during installation to install Geek Buddy or Dragon Browser and a free secure DNS, you may opt-out of it. The Dragon Browser is good, but the interface may use some improvements. I did not find any special need for the browser as I am already using IE, Chrome, TOR, and Epic – depending upon what I intend to do. We have a review of Comodo DNS on The Windows Club.
PS: If you are using a VPN or a proxy, exit before installing Comodo DNS (firewall) as your computer might stop responding in the middle of installation. Also, it is not good from a security point of view when you don’t wish to appear on the Internet. You can restart the proxy and VPN after installing the Comodo firewall. Comodo Firewall Review – Verdict If you need a third-party firewall, Comodo is among the best free firewall software in the industry so far. You can download it from comodo.com.
