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What's the best (free) firewall & VPN for MacOS?

S

Sweet Potato for Easy Poo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 8, 2020
3
1
Hi,

Hoping to find a best available & free firewall and VPN for my MacBook air.

Firewall:
I've read some of the reviews about AntiVirus Bit Medic and am not sure I really understand the tech speak. Saw Paragon software in the apps store too and that seems solid, but I am no expert.

VPN:
I tried VPN Gate and found it easy to use but have no idea if there is any truth to it being risky, since it's run by volunteers. would love to hear how VPN gate might compare with the existing free VPNs in the app store.

Any comments and suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
MacOS has built-in firewall (just not enabled by default). It's in System preferences, Security & Privacy, Firewall.

I haven't tried any free VPNs for a while as they've never been reliable.

Brave has Tor mode with its private browsing. Maybe you can try that to see if it meets your needs.
 
chscag

chscag

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,946
Fort Worth, Texas
As above, macOS has a built in firewall which you can turn on if you wish. However, if you use a router, it has NAT which acts as a hardware firewall. So there really is no need to add a third party firewall. I second the suggestion by @ian87w to use the Brave browser.

The browser that puts you first | Brave

The Brave browser is a fast, private and secure web browser for PC, Mac and mobile. Download now to enjoy a faster ad-free browsing experience that saves data and battery life by blocking tracking software.
brave.com brave.com
 
S

Sweet Potato for Easy Poo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 8, 2020
3
1
ian87w said:
MacOS has built-in firewall (just not enabled by default). It's in System preferences, Security & Privacy, Firewall.

I haven't tried any free VPNs for a while as they've never been reliable.

Brave has Tor mode with its private browsing. Maybe you can try that to see if it meets your needs.
Click to expand...
thanks, my MAC firewall seems to be on, but how do I know a NAT is in place? I have a wireless router for all my devices but my MAC is not always on....not quite sure how NAT works.
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ian87w said:
MacOS has built-in firewall (just not enabled by default). It's in System preferences, Security & Privacy, Firewall.

I haven't tried any free VPNs for a while as they've never been reliable.

Brave has Tor mode with its private browsing. Maybe you can try that to see if it meets your needs.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just tried Brave Tor and it’s by far the best Tor I’ve tried!
 
Erehy Dobon

Erehy Dobon

Suspended
Feb 16, 2018
2,161
2,017
No service
You get what you pay for with free VPNs.

Many years ago I used the free service from VPNbook. I've tried a couple of pay VPN services since then, currently I am using Trust.Zone on multi-year discounted subscription. It's worth paying a few bucks for a little basic security when you use an open WAP.

As for the firewall, I just use the one built into macOS.
 
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A

ApfelKuchen

macrumors 601
Aug 28, 2012
4,335
3,012
Between the coasts
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AppleSmack

AppleSmack

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
336
116
The Mac built in firewall controls incoming connections only.

Lulu controls outgoing connections too, and is still relatively simple.

Little Snitch is far more detailed and not free.

Judging by your question, I'd say stick to the built in firewall, or try Lulu.
 
Jablonskitravels

Jablonskitravels

macrumors newbie
Mar 31, 2020
29
9
Sweet Potato for Easy Poo said:
Hi,

Hoping to find a best available & free firewall and VPN for my MacBook air.

Firewall:
I've read some of the reviews about AntiVirus Bit Medic and am not sure I really understand the tech speak. Saw Paragon software in the apps store too and that seems solid, but I am no expert.

VPN:
I tried VPN Gate and found it easy to use but have no idea if there is any truth to it being risky, since it's run by volunteers. would love to hear how VPN gate might compare with the existing free VPNs in the app store.

Any comments and suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi, you have a lot of options here mate. I'll mention here my current FW+VPN

Firewall: Radio Silence (Since I am not interested in configuring traditional firewalls)
VPN: IvacyVPN (Mainly for streaming)
 
Z

zoran

macrumors 601
Jun 30, 2005
4,787
132
Has anyone used a free VPN extension for their browser? Is it worth it? Are there any totally free VPN versions?
 
ruka.snow

ruka.snow

macrumors 68000
Jun 6, 2017
1,886
5,182
Scotland
BigMcGuire said:
How do they pay for the servers and the bandwidth for your data ? If you’re not paying them, they’re making money selling you.
Click to expand...
Even if you are paying them, there is a big chance they are mining data. The chance to mine all that data, it's more than even Facebook can gather and people are paying to give it to you.
 
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Z

zoran

macrumors 601
Jun 30, 2005
4,787
132
Regarding the security risk or the data mining issue, is it possible for the user to turn on and off the VPN? Use it for certain websites he visits or works at and then after he is done he turns them off... is that possible?
 
Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,573
52,307
In a van down by the river
zoran said:
Regarding the security risk or the data mining issue, is it possible for the user to turn on and off the VPN? Use it for certain websites he visits or works at and then after he is done he turns them off... is that possible?
Click to expand...
You could try that. However, you should not trust anything about a free VPN software, web browser extension, or any manifestation and use thereof. You are asking for trouble using a free VPN. Trying to rationalize it with only certain usage doesn’t mitigate the danger.
 
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Runs For Fun

Runs For Fun

macrumors 65816
Nov 6, 2017
1,138
2,601
I would not recommend using any free VPN. They're free for a reason because they're making money off your data. They are super shady. If you want a good VPN pay for the one trustworthy ones.
 
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