My home network is going to consist of 3 XP PCs and 1 Vista Ultimate. I have been using AVG 8 and before that 7.5. Can't say I've any major complaints with it, but now that my subscription is up for renewal I'm thinking maybe I should have a look around and see what else is out there. I've heard Commodo mentioned a few times, and also just found a link recommending Online Armor which I had never heard of before. http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/20 [...] ne-armor/.

This is a rating list of firewalls http://www.matousec.com/projects/f [...] esults.php

But I don't want to take one site's word for it, anyone got any opinions or know of sites that have unbiased reviews of firewalls.

Well the best unbiased opinion on anything consumer related would be the consumer reports. I believe it is in the November issue is where they publish there findings on the best virus protections uites, ad-ware, firewall etc. etc. etc.

Every year it changes and the test is quite thorough, much, much better testing done there than on any other tech/computer review site, that I have ever seen. :

Yeah, I agree, Trend Micro products are really good. In fact, in the latest issue (sept 2007) of Consumer Reports Magazine, Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 was named best internet security suite. Here's the complete list from that article:

1. Trend Micro ('PC-cillin') Internet Security 2007 (now referred to as "Trend Micro Internet Security 2007" )

2. Check Point ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.0

3. McAfee Total Protection 2007

4. McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007

5. Microsoft Live OneCare

6. BitDefender Internet Security 10

7. F-Secure Internet Security 2007

8. Symantec Norton 360

9. Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007

Just to let you know that after some further reading avg, and ad-aware were ranked much lwoer on the list, even though they only cover limited areas, the areas that they were supposed to cover apparently wasn't very good.

I decided to try out the Trend Micro 2008 pro, found it online for a 3 computer pack it was $30 USD.

I have to be honest it works unbelievably well.

Of course I'm not telling you what to do merely a suggestion that is based on the most unbiased testing done today. It is up to you to do your own personal research and see if it fits you, instead of listening to a bucnh of ppl say things like, I use panda/this/that and its uber good, and all that garbage....

I myself use Comodo, but I've heard Online Armor is good too. Those would probably be the two choices I would pick between free firewalls.

If you install Comodo be warned that they include the Ask toolbar with the installer, and the check boxes for installing it are checked by default. I had to disable NOD32's resident protection to install Comodo(without the toolbar) because it was detecting the Ask toolbar.

I consider most toolbars in basically the same class as spyware, but I guess I can't blame Comodo for trying to make some money off of it. The bad thing is that it is checked by default and impatient people might install it without reading things over.

If you want more information on firewalls you could check out http://www.wilderssecurity.com. There is tons of useful information there on security stuff, and I visit the site every once in awhile.