So, one of the things I love about AVG is its very simple outbound internet connection alert feature. Unlike most other AV firewall software, the AVG implementation is very simple. You leave it in auto mode till your basic OS functions and browsers have rules created, then put it in ask mode. And then only when a new unknown app asks to connect to the internet for the first time, you are alerted and can decide whether to allow or block. Basically, like a program called Little Snitch on Mac (if you have used that you will know exactly what I mean) or Glasswire on PC when that is also in ‘ask’ mode. This is a perfect tool to block certain apps from unnecessarily phoning home, especially games that don’t have online multiplayer, and of course, info stealers/trojans and unknown apps.
The reason the AVG implementation is so good is because it only alerts you when a new app tries to connect to the net, not asks you for permission for EVERY single action the app performs like for example Bit Defender, Comodo, Kaspersky etc do.
However it’s currently broken, and this was why I returned the app recently (internet security, 3 year/10 seats license). Therefore I actually won’t know if this gets fixed unless someone tells me, as I have uninstalled and fallen back to my Malwarebytes/Defender combo currently.
I am hoping someone who is part of support and actually understands what I am saying reads this and alerts the team for a fix, as trying to explain it to support chat was useless. That’s another topic entirely, but I tried multiple agents and all they wanted was constant remote access and offering me discounts and reading off a script. That poor support was the nail in the coffin and why I had enough.
All that said, had this feature worked as it should, I’d have put up with the other issues and kept it, but this was too big an issue for me, cause as it stands, there’s no difference to just using any other firewall in automatic mode.
Basically the issue is that most apps would pop up alerts for connections, but some just never would, ever, so they’d never be able to connect.
Microsoft Edge is a perfect example. There is a component of it somewhere that doesn’t create automatic rules. Even though I used it for 7 days before I enabled the firewall manual mode, Edge simply could not connect to the internet when I put the AVG firewall in manual mode. I could not browse the net at ALL.
After about an hour, seriously, an alert popped up which was the needed process being blocked all that time, I allowed it and all was well. But the problem persisted with some other apps, and overall I would put the ratio at about 80% worked and 20% of installed apps and processes just never gave an alert and therefore simply were never able to connect to the internet. Even if I temporarily put the firewall in auto mode and ran those apps, when I put it back in manual mode, the necessary rules had not been created,
I have never seen an issue like this in ANY other firewall app in my 53 years of life (and 30 years of using firewalls).
EVER.
I even tried it on my cheap brand new travel laptop, the laptop had never been turned on before and was not even a day old, all I did was turn it on and do windows updates and install AVG and the same problem. I did this because I knew AVG support would say it was my main gaming laptop.
What is happening is that there is obviously a subset of processes/process types that is not triggering the firewall prompt. And even though said apps work in automatic mode, because in that mode the firewall allows anything to connect to the net, those few rules just for those affected apps are not being created.
I could not believe it, after all the issues with my VPN and getting that working, after all the issues with a spam popup I had that requires another separate topic that AVG support could not help me with and I worked out and fixed on my own - well, I could not believe I finally got the app to a point I was happy with it, and all I did was enable firewall alert mode and I never ever expected something to be this broken.
To any AVG staff reading. I can’t fix it. You can’t fix it by controlling my PC because it’s not a setting that needs to be changed, it’s a BUG that needs to be fixed by CODING an update to the firewall rules reading/creation.
Anyway, there’s not many AV’s I like, and AVG had by far the best webcam/mic protection, by far the best Firewall rules interface with search function, by far the best gaming and overall OS performance and finally, not a single false positive for me in the 3 weeks of use.. and I actually still love the app, but the fact is, the firewall needs to be FIXED. Please if there is any luck in the world, someone with actual knowledge will read this and understand exactly what I am saying and start working on a FIX.
Peace out.
PS if that is fixed and anyone can confirm it, I will re buy for sure.
PPS if anyone wants to test it now for me, you can just put the firewall in interactive mode and open edge and see if you can browse or if an alert instantly pops up.
Cheers and major TIA in advance.