Thanks! So SimpleWall or Windows Firewall I guess!
Why did you put a sad emoji for SimpleWall?
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The inbuilt firewall in WIndows (on your local PC, virtual machine, local server that you control etc) is very good.
But, to get the full feature set (on your local machine), especially if you are running Hyper-V VMs, WSL distros (and/or the Windows Sandbox), search the net, and be comfortable with powershell.
For anything “outside” the PC/machine running WIndows, go network protection.
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Well I was under the impression that it had been archived, but looking now there was an update last week. Regardless it’s what I’m presently using, it works just fine.
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How do you use windows firewall to monitor outbound connections ?
What your solution to this issue ?
Can anyone clarify this for me?
I feel like it may need its own thread because it has such serious implications… 
OP, you don’t seem to understand what a firewall is or does.
Conventional firewalls deal only with lower-level things like IP addresses, protocols, and ports; they do not handle connections at the application level. Not to mention that such a firewall running on standalone hardware simply wouldn’t “know” what applications are running on your PC.
What you’re looking for is a so-called personal firewall, which is largely a Windows thing. Speaking of which, if you really care about your privacy, you shouldn’t be using Windows for anything sensitive to begin with.
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I appreciate your reply!
I’m still unsure of how hardware firewalls are all that important if you have Windows PC’s connected and these Windows PC’s have trojans or some other kind of malicious backdoors/telemetry installed??
I’m moving away from proprietary software in general but I do need to keep my current devices as secure as possible…
As I said, conventional firewalls do not deal with applications at all. The point of a “hardware firewall” (say, a router) would often be to protect your local network from unsolicited incoming connection attempts, e.g., a script kiddie from the PRC trying to gain remote access to your PC via SSH to turn it into his personal proxy server, and whatnot.
Dealing with malware like trojans, on the other hand, is the job of an antivirus and/or an intrusion-detection system. I hear that Windows Defender is plenty good these days, but don’t quote me on that.
An up-to-date Windows installation with Defender Antivirus and Firewall enabled, and the latter blocking or dropping all incoming connections should be reasonably secure. Just keep in mind that security =/= privacy.
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I appreciate your reply!
It just seems like a great idea to have an open source firewall app running on a Windows 11 PC just as a further line of protection from trojans and other apps that send out too much user telemetry?
Honestly, I doubt there is a good firewall on Windows that does the job well without sending EXTRA more telemetry than Windows already does. 
Not sure if there is a way to fix all the leaks from that OS given all the daily sloppy releases… 
Yes, there is. Simplewall.
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The room’s mood, damn…
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This has been mentioned here before—it’s definitely not a good match if you aren’t able to learn how to use it independently.
I appreciate your reply!
However, Simplewall hasn’t had any updates since July 2025… I don’t think it’s something that we can rely upon…
According to the pricing list, only the paid version of Portmaster offers compatibility with VPN.
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I appreciate your reply!
I’m really starting to think that having a software firewall app for Windows PC’s is non negotiable… It’s just so easy for an app to send user data back to a malicious person on the internet… Even if you have the most up to date Windows security updates and a secure router it only takes one app to send telemetry to someone on the Internet.. which destroys user privacy…
It scarcely demands an extraordinary effort when one blocks everything by default and permits only that which is essential. And maintains the use of reason.
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Don’t know why they state it there, but the free portmaster works well with protonvpn in my case.
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I’m using simplewall as of now. Even though the developper is kind of… ish… The software works well on what it is supposed to do.
I’m surprised that I receive connection request from single player games.
I feel simplewall gives me back control.
If true that it hasn’t been updated since July 2025, not great though.
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My problem is that when I used default-deny, I couldn’t figure out what was needed and what wasn’t, so I ended up breaking the system several times when I disallowed something that was actually needed.