Bouncer is an application to help you choose the correct firewall zone for wireless connections. When you connect to a new network, a window opens prompting you for what kind of network (eg home, public, work) it is. When you choose the network type, it is associated with that network and automatically used in the future.
NetworkManager and firewalld are required. If you don't use those, you can't use Bouncer. Fedora uses both by default. Other distributions may not.
Additional setup is required after installation. See the applicable section for your distribution. Once the setup is done, start Bouncer and confirm your system is configured correctly. Then click the Monitor button to begin using Bouncer. After that, it will start automatically when you log in.
Fedora
- For Fedora, everything just works! Just start Bouncer to confirm, and click the Monitor button to begin using Bouncer.
Ubuntu
- Uninstall ufw:
sudo apt remove ufw - Install firewalld:
sudo apt install firewalld - By default, polkit is configured to not let regular users set the zone for a connection. The simplest way to change this is to add users to the
netdevgroup (egusermod -a -G netdev justin). Alternatively, you can create a custom polkit rule for theorg.freedesktop.NetworkManager.settings.modify.systemaction (how to create custom polkit rules is beyond the scope of this document and is left as an exercise for the reader). - Start Bouncer and confirm your system is configured correctly. Then click the Monitor button to begin using Bouncer.
Debian
- Install firewalld:
sudo apt install firewalld - By default, polkit is configured to not let regular users set the zone for a connection. The simplest way to change this is to add users to the
netdevgroup (egusermod -a -G netdev justin). Alternatively, you can create a custom polkit rule for theorg.freedesktop.NetworkManager.settings.modify.systemaction (how to create custom polkit rules is beyond the scope of this document and is left as an exercise for the reader). - Start Bouncer and confirm your system is configured correctly. Then click the Monitor button to begin using Bouncer.
Screenshots
Observed history
| App | Change | Version | When ↑ |
|---|---|---|---|
| updated | 51.0.0 | 11 Oct 2026 |
Upstream releases
Release notes supplied by the developer. These dates are not Flathub package publication times.
51.0.011 Oct 2026
- Use GNOME 51
- Improve dashboard navigation in narrow windows
50.2.025 Aug 2026
- UI/UX enhancements
- Clean up dashboard dependency tab
- Prompt for multiple new networks at the same time
- Added Spanish translations
- Update Occitan translations
- Update Danish translations
- Update JavaScript development tooling
50.1.024 Jun 2026
- Include a networks tab on the dashboard
- UI cleanup
- Improve accessibility for dependency item status
- Track connections by NetworkManager UUID
- Update Occitan translations
- Update Italian translations
- Include Danish translations
50.0.029 Mar 2026
- Correctly show autostart status on dashboard
- Include Italian translation
- Track connection IDs seen per machine
- Include Polish translation
- Use GNOME 50 runtime
- Handle NetworkManager restarts


