With the least network impact on audio?
Am using some of sistersite stuff, (although less and less, have bought 99% of all thes stuff i actually use now).

tips and ideas are appreciated!

 

Hi @Ruskprick, your built-in Windows Firewall is perfectly adequate, it does what it's supposed to and has no impact on audio at all. In short, leave everything as is.

 

SimpleWall. Been using it for years, very low CPU, super easy to configure and "set and forget". Also, it's free.

 

TinyWall is great too. You can easily configure the rules with it that you like. Unblocking local traffic is one click. You can easily allow/block traffic for Windows Update, DHCP, DNS etc. And it is also free.

Then again, if you are behind a router, you probably don't need another firewall, because your router acts as one already. If a hacker manages to gain access to your router, you are probably f'ed already.

A firewall IS needed when you connect your pc to unknown networks or if it is directly exposed to the internet. In a home network setting the security for incoming traffic is in most cases handled by the router and the additional firewall in the pc itself is basically unnecessary.

That said. If you know what you are doing, you can block outgoing traffic of applications that you don't want to have access to the internet. It is however not as trivial as it might seem, as programs can use different mechanisms to connect to the internet. If you want internet access for your local system browser, other programs can hijack that connection for example. Blocking the individual program might not be enough to stop it from connecting to the internet. If you happen to block the underlying system services, the programs that you want to access the internet might not work anymore.

 

Last edited: Jan 24, 2025 at 10:55 AM

It is a bad idea to attempt using Windows firewall by itself with "alternative" software.
That requires very close attention and effort to make sure one has properly blocked connections, because one must manually enter the information.

A whitelist-type firewall or a whitelist-type front-end for Windows firewall is really a necessary thing for most people using alternative software.
I use Windows Firewall Control set to "Medium Filtering", and set to notify me of actions.