Bot Revolt is a Peer Guardian and Block alternative for Windows

Martin Brinkmann
Sep 4, 2013
Updated • Sep 4, 2013
File Sharing, Security
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28

The idea behind Peer Guardian was to block known bad or insecure IP connections automatically on computer systems. It shipped with various lists, a P2P list for example, that you could use to block company IP addresses associated with copyrights holders, media companies and companies that were known to record P2P traffic.

Developer stopped and Peer Block took over for the time being, but this too stopped eventually and back in 2009 no alternative was available that offered continuous development and new features.

Enter Bot Revolt, a new program for the Windows operating system that is available as a free and paid version. Before I look at the free version, I'd like to outline the differences between the free and paid version so that you know what you do not get in the free version of Bot Revolt.

Bot Revolt Free vs. Paid

The only information we have about the differences are on the pricing page. The paid version of Bot Revolt offers the following features for $47 per year or $4.95 per month on top of what the free version offers:

  1. No Ads. The free version displays a skyscraper ad in the program interface.
  2. Incognito Mode. This seems to work just like a web browser's incognito mode, only for all network connections. It appears to block tracking scripts and servers that are known to track user connections.
  3. Auto Updates. The paid version updates automatically and in real-time.
  4. Additional Threat protection. It is not really clear what this means. From the looks of it, it appears that the paid version will block additional threats that the free version does not block.

Bot Revolt Free Review

bot revolt free

The main program window displays all connections your computer makes. Black text connections are all safe, while red connections indicate unsafe blocked connections. The application uses five default lists that are all activated by default and updated on start of the application:

  • Malware - Blocks hackers, botnets and viruses.
  • Spyware - Blocks malicious spyware programs and adware servers.
  • Scams and Spam - Blocks unsolicited email and hoax servers.
  • Bitcoin Bandits - Blocks currency thieves and crooks.
  • Your Privacy - Maintains privacy online.

You can check out any list with a click on view. This displays the starting and end IP range as well as the name of the company or individual who is the owner of it.

ip block list

A search is provided at the top that you can use to scan for a specific IP address or name. It is furthermore possible to right-click on any name here to whitelist connections for 15 minutes, 1 hour or permanently.

Another interesting feature is the ability to create custom lists and to import lists from iblocklist and other list providers.

To add existing lists click on the add button in the list manager and either add one locally, or by url. Several iBlocklist lists are already linked here so that you can select them with the click of the button.

add block list

You can disable the protection for a period of time from the main interface. Just click on the disable button to do so, but do not forget to enable the protection again.

The real-time log may be useful but it is too limited for deeper analysis. There is for instance no option to search it, or sort it by column header. That's what the history window is for. Click on View History to open it.

Here you see all, blocked and allowed connections listed in tabs. To display all blocked connections simply click on the blocked tab to do so.

Other options provided here are to browse the data for a specific day, and to use the search to find information about particular IP addresses you are interested in.

You can change what is logged by the application in the Appearance section. Both allowed and blocked connections are logged by default, which you can change to either one or no logging at all.

Here you can also define the automatic pruning of log files (default every 7 days), whether you want to receive notifications on HTTP blocks or All blocks, and change colors for allowed and blocked connections.

The preferences window is rather limited in the free version. The only options you have are to disable the start with Windows, the splash screen, and whether you want the program minimized to tray on close or displayed always on top.

Closing Words

If you are looking for a program that blocks IP addresses associated with malware, spyware, spam or tracking, then you may want to give Bot Revolt a try. It is a great alternative for the retired Peer Guardian and Peer Block applications.

Especially the ability to add your own lists and import lists from other sources needs to be mentioned here, as it improves the program significantly.

Whether it is worth the $47 per year is up to you. The system-wide incognito mode sounds like a real keeper though.

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Comments

  1. Taomyn said on September 4, 2013 at 9:46 am
    Reply

    And for those looking for a decent alternative that’s free and free from ads plus other crap (though I would recommend donating), then try qBittorrent: http://www.qbittorrent.org/

  2. zondron said on September 4, 2013 at 10:10 am
    Reply

    Why not use the portable version of uTorrent?

    Just downlad the .exe from official website into a folder, create a text file in the same folder, rename the .txt file to settings.dat and start uTorrent. You can move the folder anywhere.

    1. Coyote said on September 4, 2013 at 3:03 pm
      Reply

      ^Exactly…. in fact I would recommend avoiding all versions over 2.0, the torrent portion of the program hardly changed, it’s all the ads, ratings, and possible tracking features that require all the additional installs.

      And this is why I never updated in a nutshell;

      “Ads
      More Ads (hit decline offer)
      Even more ads (hit decline)”

      Nope. I donated $25 several years ago to the utorrent crew.. possibly a decade… so I refuse to accept their reasoning for selling out so much.

      1. zondonr said on September 4, 2013 at 4:16 pm
        Reply

        You can turn off the ads.

  3. Paul said on September 4, 2013 at 3:18 pm
    Reply

    qBittorrent FTW!

  4. anon said on September 4, 2013 at 3:42 pm
    Reply

    Qbittorrent your way out of this piece of crap.

  5. Dukislav said on September 4, 2013 at 5:45 pm
    Reply

    +1 for Qbittorrent

  6. Blue.bsod said on September 4, 2013 at 6:25 pm
    Reply

    I’m a long long time user of Bitcomet now and forever. Never any ads, no offers, nothing to decline, no sell out… little used due to the complex nature they still scare people away with, but their new install is a simple one click solution that discovers all settings on its own except firewalls.

    They follow a simple idea…’share’… if you share you can possibly go faster than those who don’t share. You can even see connections* connected to you and of them who is sharing and who isn’t… then you can boot them / ban them or ignore them selectively ‘mwahahaha…’. We can set how much we share, with who, and how fast we share.

    *in my personal experience over 95% of Azures and uTorrent users do not share, I boot them.

    So those who believe Bitcomet is hard to understand, they haven’t been that since version 1.09a (current public release 1.35). Also Bitcomet installs a Firefox add-on to capture media from the temp directory. You can easily unload it using Firefox’s Add-on Options page.

    Bottomline, Bitcomet is faster and easier to install/use. Signing up as a registered user will allow you to join the ranks as a sharing user. The more you share, the faster you can possibly go.

  7. suc said on July 19, 2014 at 7:21 pm
    Reply

    utorrent installs itself in appdata folder so it can inject malware without the UAC consent. Don’t use utorrent because it’s unsafe!

  8. uTP said on December 8, 2015 at 10:47 am
    Reply

    The best last version of utorrent is 2.2.1 build 25534

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