Portmaster Intro #4: Allow Connections

[@ayyyylmao-rg3ik]

I just recently found your app and I must say, you guys are amazing, the UI is easy to use and shit just works when I block something. Thank you.

[@jonnycrono8694]

Awesome people. Awesome program. Now let's do our part guys. Donate if you can but at least, raise awareness about this masterpiece of a firewall. The more people learn about this tool, the stronger it will become.

[@SafingIO]

Thank you for your support!

[@shuvamsky]

well thank you, i am really liking the project.many things are straight forward and precise .just hoping it will be lightweight on resources in future updates.

[@SafingIO]

Portmaster core is light, the UI runs in electron, yes that takes up resources. But you don't have to keep it open in normal use. when you are super constrained on resources you can open the UI in the browser, enable developer UI and go to 127.0.0.1:817/

[@shuvamsky]

@@SafingIO thanks! I will see it later.

[@SafingIO]

@@shuvamsky you are super welcome :D

[@jimp2138]

Please help none of my connections are loading

[@ZenEagle]

This is a follow-up to my previous comment hinting that the firewall has difficulties connecting to the LAN storage drives. I was right and wrong at the same time. The PortMaster firewall works well and is quite simple to get comfortable with. My initial problem with PortMaster was not connecting to the LAN or temporarily connecting when it was activated after the LAN connection was first established using Windows Explorer and then blocked once the Explorer was closed and reopened was caused by the interference from the Windows 11 built-in firewall. The simple solution was to restore the Windows firewall to the default state. I don't understand why the Windows firewall was causing the problem as this is a new computer and no changes to it were made. But, before installing the PortMaster I tried another firewall that was quite good but somewhat overwhelming by the amount of available features and setups. Conclusion: Trying various firewalls may change Windows' built-in firewall rules causing future connection and potentially security issues.

[@SafingIO]

thanks for letting us know!

[@SBL972-one]

hello, I think I understood knowing that the translation is in US. I am FR. thank you for the video.

[@SafingIO]

Glad it was helpful!

[@James_m7]

My VPN can't connect to internet when using Portmaster, it says DNS error ... Do I have to add my VPN domain as an exception into the Portmaster DNS setting somewhere, if so, how and what exactly do I have to do? thx

[@SafingIO]

depending on the VPN client there are different settings you need to change. you can find guides here: wiki.safing.io/ there is also an extended one for proton VPN just use the search bar

[@SBL972-one]

how to block in both directions? your interface doesn't show this. if it blocks in only one direction then...

[@SafingIO]

I replied to this question with a video kzbin.info/www/bejne/inKpdXyvaptlgdk let me know in the comments if that helped. Thanks

[@bobrobertsNotUrBob]

Just a quick question I have been wondering, could I disable windows firewall if using portmaster? or will somethings get thru if I disable windows firewall?

[@SafingIO]

We are compatible with windows firewall enabled, you do not need to disable it.

[@ZenEagle]

The firewall looks good, and it offers a fairly easy interface but it HAS to work. My problem is that it will not connect to my NAS local network storage/backup device. Using Windows 11 Explorer connecting to the NAS first and then enabling the PortMaster firewall the connection will be maintained until the Explorer is shut down. Afterwards reenabling the explorer and logging to the NAS will be blocked. I have tried numerous other Firewalls all connect to NAS without problem.

[@jimmybruneel4540]

which NAS do you use ?

[@SafingIO]

thank you for coming back in the other post and letting us know how it went!

[@MrVincentGiardina]

I just downloaded and installed your app; however, it is indicating that the Device is Offline. I don't see where there is a setting to turn this on or off. Please advise.

[@SafingIO]

Probably a compatibility issue with another app such as antivirus or vpn (installed is sometimes enough, the vpn software does things even when it’s turned off)

[@MrVincentGiardina]

@@SafingIO I've allowed the entire Safing folder on the C:\drive but still to no avail.

[@Flat_Enclosed_Earth]

Distorted and blurred text in UI on nvidia GPU systems. It's a shame that this issue has not been fixed yet. Not sure about AMD gpus.

[@Mr.Elektric]

Hi. I really like the program, but i really do not understand how to make it possible to connect to a gameserver(Fragnet) when SPN is active....could someone please help? SPN needs to be disabled to connect.

[@SafingIO]

if you trust the server you can exclude the specific domain from the SPN so you don't have to disable the whole SPN for your system. alternatively, do you know if it is all games on that service (ie meaning that fragnet has an issue) or do you have the same issue with the same game from other services as well?

[@Mr.Elektric]

Hi. How do i exclude it? I am having a hard time getting my head around this proogram😊

[@SafingIO]

@@Mr.Elektric here is the wiki link wiki.safing.io/en/FAQ/SPNExcludeRule It’s easier with screenshots 😅

[@Mr.Elektric]

@@SafingIO Hi. I give up. I really wanted Portmaster to work for me, but i am sorry to report that i do not understand it. Its really beyond my pay grade. Its too complicated for me....

[@SafingIO]

@@Mr.Elektric did you check by on the discord, people are super helpful there discord.gg/safing

[@vladimirdorta6692]

I tried Portmaster for a few weeks but it made my already slow computer even slower (a notification even told me) and, worse of all, I couldn't connect with many sites I normally visit. I find it too complex, I literally didn't know what to do even after watching all the previous 3 intros.

[@SafingIO]

I am sorry to hear that your PC was not able to handle Portmaster on top of your slow OS. We always strife to make the app easier to use and improve performance, but adding any software will inevitably cost some resources.

[@enviromoment]

This program looks good but in practice it is useless. I need to have a clear message that a program wants to connect to the internet. In this window there should be an option to remember setting permanently for the whole program, otherwise I get 1000 requests for every firefox connection to the Internet. To grant it total access I have to open options and only set allow there. Pointless. No one will want to do such a job, even though the program is beautiful and has a lot of options. Even the biggest computer whizzes will eventually get discouraged when they are forced to set settings for the program every time a new program requests Internet access.

[@SafingIO]

you changed the setting from default allow to prompt. If you are using Portmaster in prompt for all apps that is what you are in for, but what we recommend doing instead is going in and allowing the apps you trust, blocking the apps you don't and prompt only the few you actually want to prompt like this. For browsers there are other options built into the browser we recommend using, things like µMatrix I hope the guides help you to setup Portmaster in the way that works best for you, if you found the defaults confusing, let me know

[@AliChiron]

Why do you make this harder than it should be, why don't you make videos as if you are a user like us, and go through configurations and address common issues like slower internet speed, and browser not working on some websites? instead of explaining things that don't solve the problem and make it harder leading to people giving up and uninstalling the program.

[@SafingIO]

thanks for the recommendation, we are not content creator... this is not our strong suite. But I took up the idea and started the FAQ videos, they seem to work better