Windows 10: Firewall or Antivirus software may have blocked the connection even with firewall off?

Hi,


I'm trying to access a public WiFi location, and get the notification that firewall or Antivirus software may be blocking the connection. I've tried turning the firewall off and still get this result. Help?

:)

 

Good Antivirus + Firewall

I would never put anything Norton on my computer.

Nod32 is arguably the best antivirus. AVG is likely not as good, but it's free and at least pretty good.

Firewalls, I'd put Comodo and whatever "Tiny Personal Firewall" is named nowadays on your short list. I think Kerio might have sold it now and it's named something else. Otherwise, just put Comodo on your short list. I think the current version's ease of use has taken a step backwards, seems a bit counter-intuitive when trying to do certain things with it, but overall it does a good job and the price is right.

 

Best free AV and firewall

Can Windows Firewall block outgoing connections yet? If not, it's one step above useless.

Look into Online Armor for a free firewall.

 

I need a firewall that allows me to easily block / unblock programs.

Another problem with router firewalls is they often simply see all local traffic as good. So, for example, they would do nothing to protect a connected computer from infection from an inserted infected USB stick. And they may do nothing to protect other connected computers on the same network from malware distributed by the USB stick infected computer.

So I agree - use a decent hardware based router firewall to protect us from external threats, but each locally connected computer should use a decent software based firewall too. Fortunately, it does not take any special techniques or proprietary code to block a port. And the vast majority of users never need to create firewall rules so the firewall built into Windows is more than adequate for most users. If more flexibility is desired, then there are plenty alternatives and Windows Firewall will gladly step out of the way. Users just should not assume the alternatives are blocking ports better. It does not work that way. A blocked port is a blocked port.