I realize that there are arguments about this firewall and that firewall, and the tests that are used, blah, blah, blah, but still I find that Comodo and Online Armor free version to be the top two -- again -- amazing and excellent for the consumer.

http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

I had recently tried out Comodo and Online Armor, and both failed to stay stable on my network. Comodo that one is a bit odd to use. The Online Armor still not bug free but I am sure they'll fix the problems it has soon. PC Tools Firewall Plus not on the list this time but still it's stable it can block, smart integration with NIC using a service control and most of all no LAN or WAN slowness or overhaul system resources hogging. Downloading is fast and I am not prompted with so many pop-ups after the first learning mode it's remembers what should be granted full access or get special permission or just be blocked. Also can detect which applications is no longer on the system that were there before.

tipster, appreciate the information. I'll have to look into PC Tools Firewall Plus. How is their support and staying on top of the latest issues in security?