Packets filter

Does anybody know any simple user-interface program that can allow/block incoming or outgoing packets of an IP address (or UDP port) ?

For example, I want to block incoming packets of an IP address but I'll allow outgoing packets to that IP address.

As far as I know, Ghostwall can do that but it's unstable as it's not really sending any outgoing packet when I enable the 'Allow Outgoing Packets' function.

(I'm using Windows, by the way.)

Thanks in advance! And before you go *WTF*, this is not for security reasons.

You can do this with the NAT functionality on the router you're most likely to have :p

That would be inconvenient for me because a restart of my router would be required after making such changes. What I want is a program that can filter packets and easily control them (clicking a button to enable/disable it) in real time. Ghostwall is a good example but it's not working properly for me. I'm looking for similar programs.

Thanks again!

Well, by default, you should be blocking all incoming connections and allowing all outgoing connections already, you know that, right?

Unless you've put your PC in the DMZ, which wouldn't be the best of ideas.

Were you aware of this when trying out Ghostwall?

I dunno. Ghostwall doesn't seem to monitor my outgoing packets quite properly. However, other software like Traffic XP Shaper can monitor them without any problem. I don't want to use that software because it messes up with XP sometimes.

My laptop has to be DMZ'd, otherwise PS3 connecting to it won't be able to use the Internet via my router at all. I've tired port forwarding but for some reason that didn't work.

Software like PeerGuardian 2 worked fine, but it doesn't have the 'Block or allow incoming/outgoing packets' function.

Most decent routers do not need rebooting when you change the firewall policy :p And you're probably doing it wrong if you're expecting GhostWall itself to send packets out - firewalls don't do that :p

If you're on Vista/7, there's the built-in Advanced Windows Firewall buried somewhere in administrative tools, I think - it's pretty nice for a default Windows firewall :p

But as Mirage said, your existing router (assuming you're on a normal home connection and not on a uni campus) is probably doing what you want already as part of it's NAT functionality, if you've not set up DMZs :p

EDIT: Just saw your reply - in your case, I wouldn't expect GhostWall to see everything, especially stuff to/from the PS3, since it's a low-end personal firewall, and those things tend to have issues with inspecting traffic going through the Windows machine rather than to/from the machine itself. I don't see why the PS3 has to go through the laptop to get to the internet and not go to the router directly as per the normal setup.

If anything, DMZ the PS3 machine instead of the laptop if you don't know how to get the port forwarding working :D

My router is old (bought it back in 2000) so it's a no-no. The Windows Firewall is also out of the question because I'd have to double-click the icon, go to one of the tabs, and change them from there, and finally click 'Apply'. And plus if I want to revert the changes, I'd have to repeat the same steps. Too inconvenient, time-wasting and repetitive for me. ;)

So, do you guys know any other similar program like Ghostwall? I've tired googling, but I'm having a hard time finding ones... Ghostwall is where I found off Google, but still.

EDIT - Lol, saw your edit. Yeah, that makes sense. Mhmm... I'll have to do it later. But I'm more interested in getting similar programs like Ghostwall - to make the whole thing a lot easier for me, you know, like... narrowing down the problem - in case it's not DMZ that's causing the problem.

Does anybody know any reliable website that provides simple programs? Normally simple and small programs don't appear on commercial websites or own websites.

Thanks again.