Techniques To Improve Firewall Services List. Firewalls are to prevent unauthorized access to network resources. Unfortunately, they don’t always perform as expected due to various reasons. If you want to improve firewall performance, you should consider applying these secret techniques.
1. Get Rid of Firewall Rules you do not Need
Firewall rules will be available when you add new network resources to your internal network. However, if you remove these resources, it’s a good idea to delete the associated firewall rules as well. This way, you’ll be able to increase performance and reduce unnecessary load. Simply follow these steps:
First, open the Start menu and search for “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security”. Then, click on this search result to open the Windows Firewall with the Advanced Security console. Click on Inbound Rules to view all existing inbound rules. Double-click on any rule that isn’t required anymore and click on the Delete Rule button at the top of the screen. Click on the Delete button to remove this rule from your computer.
2. Keep Your Firewall Software Updated
Firewall software must be updated regularly in order to enjoy optimal performance and security features. If you don’t update your firewall software regularly, you might experience issues. Such as blocked ports, insufficient firewall protection, or even frequent crashes.
So, to update your firewall, simply run its installer program (if you haven’t deleted it yet). When prompted, select the Full Installation option and follow the instructions provided by your firewall vendor. After updating your firewall software, restart your computer so that it can apply changes without interruptions or errors.
3. Create a Separate Profile for Your Firewall Software
If you have different firewall rules applied to your computer and the other computers on your network, it might be a good idea to create separate firewall profiles. This way, you’ll be able to quickly apply the right firewall rules depending on the context.
For example, if you limit Internet access for some of your users, you might want to apply these rules to everybody except your administrators and other professionals who need to be able to access various resources over the Internet.
4. Create Firewall Rules for Open Ports
Certain network services require firewall rules that allow them to accept incoming connections from specified hosts or networks. If somebody ever tries to access one of these services from an unauthorized host or from a previously closed network, they won’t be able to connect due to existing firewall rules.
Further, to make sure that every possible program or service can receive incoming connections when needed, you should manually create corresponding firewall rules whenever installing new network applications or services (e.g. FTP server, web server).
5. Configure Windows Firewall to Automatically Disable Itself
If you’re only using a few services (e.g. File Sharing), you can automatically disable Windows Firewall so that it doesn’t interfere with your work. To do that, follow these instructions:
6. Use Advanced Security Options to Disable Windows Firewall for Some Services and Applications
If you don’t want to completely disable your firewall, you can use advanced security options to enable it only for specific services and applications.
Hence, if you have multiple network adapters installed on your computer, it might make sense to create separate profiles for each one of them (e.g. one profile for the wireless card and another profile for the wired adapter). This way, you’ll be able to block incoming connections for wireless adapters that might be used for unauthorized file sharing.