Anybody use kerio personal firewall?

[ummmm........]

'Cause I've got an issue.

I'm trying to play this game and the firewall is keeping me from it. I know it's the firewall because if I disable it I can play fine. I put *.urbandead.com into the Site Exception list, but it didn't help. I started a thread at the kerio support site, but it doesn't seem very well trafficked.

So once again I turn to the CFCers for help . . .

 

[Grisu]

can you tell us, where exactly the problem lies? Do you have issues accessing the site, or are there things you can't do?

I use Kerio PF at home, so I'll check it tonight, but so far I don't see why it should keep you out, since the site looks like a regular html-site (not even java-applets...)

 

[ummmm........]

Yeah, I can't figure it out either. (Neither can a few other people I've asked.)

Basically, if you create a character you'll be able to start fine on the first screen, but if you try to do anything at all you won't be able to (you'll get the "cannot find server" screen). Note that the action is sucessful. You can check it by hitting back on your browser and logging out, then logging in again; you'll find yourself moved to the square you tried to move to.

Again, I'm not 100% sure it's a firewall issue, but I do know that turning it off fixes the problem . . .

 

[Grisu]

pretty strange, I tried it at home and everything worked fine. I have only the free version, so web-filtering is turned off. Try turning it off as well (in the web-tab). Does that help, or does it only work, if you turn off the firewall alltogether?

 

[ummmm........]

Jeez. Further evidence that technology hates me. I'm using the free version as well, updated to 4.2.2. Is that the version you're using?

Web-filtering was enabled by default on my version, and disabling it does fix the problem. So much kudos to you indeed.

But what is web-filtering, and is it safe to turn it off?

 

[Grisu]

yep, using the same version. Web-filtering will be disabled anyway after the trial period it's pretty safe to turn it off, all it does is disabling potention ads on websites (you can do this with adblock, if you're using firefox. furthermore it does popup-blocking, but since all recent browser do that, it doesn't really do anything usefull.

you can also use it to turn off some scripts (javascript / active-x...) but modern browsers allow you to confiugure that yourself. personally, I had webfiltering turned off from the start, since it tends to block stuff you might want to see...

i'm pretty sure, that kpf misidentified the game as an advertisement and blocked it....

 

[ummmm........]

Dastardly firewall!

 

[Dabomb18359]

try the Windows SP2 firewall or the ZoneAlarm firewall.

 

[ummmm........]

I have an irrational fear of the Windows firewall. I did use Sygate for a long time, and it was fine I suppose. But I'm sure this one will be alright once I get the hang of it as well . . .

 

[Jeratain]

If you are running XP with SP2, the Windows Firewall will do just about everything that ZoneAlarm or Kerio do, short of showing you fancy graphs and stopping outgoing traffic.

Essentially, if you're a smart internet browser and don't download spyware and viruses on your own, the SP2 firewall will do a fantastic job at protecting you. However if you are the type that is prone to downloading malacious files and installing spyware, stick with Kerio or ZoneAlarm.

 

[ummmm........]

Hmm. I don't know which type I am, so I think I should probably stick with the Kerio then?

 

[Dabomb18359]

Well I used ZoneAlarm for a while.
It's good because it blocks basically everything and you have to personally let everything go through. It's bad because it blocks everything unless you specificaly tell it not to. But I think ZoneAlarm is great.

 

[Grisu]

I just checked the kerio homepage, looks like we shouldn't get too attached to it:

CUSTOMER ALERT
Kerio Personal Firewall is being discontinued on December 31, 2005. While Kerio will continue to support this product for all customers through 2006, we will not be actively developing any new features or functionality going forward.

Before Kerio, I used Outpost, but since I'm a cheap bastard I dropped it after the free trial.....

still thinking if I'll switch to another solution, but I don't like the XP Firewall, just because.... I like to be able to open/close specific ports, and I want all kinds of strang log output....

 

[ummmm........]

Yeah, I knew about that, but it'll still keep working into next year, right?

 

[Grisu]

yep, it'll work on, there just won't be any updates anymore...

 

[ummmm........]

But does a firewall need updates like an antivirus program does, or is it okay to keep using it?

 

[Grisu]

It certainly doesn't need updates as badly as a antivirus, but they don't hurt either especiallly if somebody discovers a weakness in KPF it won't get mended...

But I guess you should be pretty secure for a while, anyway

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Thats to bad, Kerio firewall was good. Its a bit more customizable and harder to use then other firewalls so I recommend it for more advanced users. In the right hands it can be harder to penetrate then Zone Alarm. But I get Zone Alarm Pro for free so I don't use Kerio anymore, especially with it being discontinued.