The Internet is a world that offers people infinite benefits. But just like any other good things, it has its downside. And in the case of the Internet, that is, the more you use it, the more private information of yours gets shared all over the place. You will be shocked at the number of applications on your computer that actually share your private information over the Internet without your knowledge and permission.
Thankfully, there’s the built-in Windows Firewall on computers. Windows Firewall is a Microsoft Windows application that filters information sent to your personal computer from the Internet. It also blocks potentially unwanted and harmful programs.
With the existence of Windows Firewall, most users won’t need another application to help them protect their system and themselves from unwanted sharing of information. But for more reasons than one, GlassWire, a third-party firewall protector, is still downloaded by many.
Here’s why.
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About GlassWire for Windows
GlassWire for Windows is a firewall and network monitoring application that helps protect your privacy and security by keeping tabs on your network activity for any suspicious elements. As soon as it detects a suspicious program, you can immediately block it from entering your computer or damaging your system using its built-in firewall management tool.
GlassWire is tagged the visual firewall. This is because it offers transparency into your network activity with easy-to-use and easy-to-navigate tools, including a graph that shows what applications and hosts are accessing the network from your computer. With GlassWire’s sophisticated software, it can automatically resolve the host’s name so it is easy for you to see what or whom your computer is communicating with over the Internet.
How to Use GlassWire for Windows?
GlassWire is very easy to download and install. After successfully installing the program, it does not require your computer to reboot. (It is still advisable for you to do it, though.) At launch, you will see five tabs at the top: Graph, Usage, Things, Firewall, and Alert. The application immediately starts graphing network traffic as soon as you launch it. By default, it shows the last five minutes of activity. Use it for a long time and you will have a choice to view the last three hours of activity, the last day, the last week, the last month, or even the last year, depending on your choice.
On the graph, you will see markers that indicate significant activities. You can click on these markers to view important information like which programs are active at which time and how much bandwidth they were using. Under the five tabs, you will see All, Apps, and Traffic.
Clicking on the Apps will let you see the online activity of just one app. Traffic view, on the other hand, lets you filter activity by protocol.
If you go to Usage, you will see a chart detailing all the incoming and outgoing bandwidth usage for the day, week, or month. This same feature allows you to get reminders from GlassWire if you reach a certain threshold in your data usage.
Clicking on Things directs you to a list of all of the Internet of Things devices on your network. Firewall details all the apps and their network traffic. It includes a graph of recent traffic too.
GlassWire Review
GlassWire promises a lot of things, and for what it’s worth, it delivers. But there are a lot of cons to using it too.
PROS:
- Visually stunning graphs
- Easy-to-navigate tabs
- Offers free trial for testout
CONS:
- Needs premium account to access a lot of other much-needed features
- Requires much tech knowledge to understand the graphs
Verdict
Yes, the graphs are lovely and stunning, and it allows you to set reminders too for when you reach a certain usage threshold, which you can’t easily find in other similar programs, but using GlassWire requires network knowledge for one to understand the graphs it displays. So if you are not a tech geek, maybe this isn’t the program for you. But if you are, then it is time to download one on your PC.