diff --git a/Pcap++/header/Device.h b/Pcap++/header/Device.h
index c5a321027..ad4c2b4c5 100644
--- a/Pcap++/header/Device.h
+++ b/Pcap++/header/Device.h
@@ -53,22 +53,38 @@ namespace pcpp
 		/// received
 		/// @param[in] filter The filter to be set in PcapPlusPlus' GeneralFilter format
 		/// @return True if filter set successfully, false otherwise
-		virtual bool setFilter(GeneralFilter& filter)
+		bool setFilter(GeneralFilter& filter)
 		{
 			std::string filterAsString;
 			filter.parseToString(filterAsString);
-			return setFilter(filterAsString);
+			return doUpdateFilter(filterAsString);
 		}
 
 		/// Set a filter for the device. When implemented by the device, only packets that match the filter will be
-		/// received
+		/// processed.
 		/// @param[in] filterAsString The filter to be set in Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) syntax
 		/// (http://biot.com/capstats/bpf.html)
 		/// @return True if filter set successfully, false otherwise
-		virtual bool setFilter(std::string filterAsString) = 0;
+		bool setFilter(std::string const& filterAsString)
+		{
+			return doUpdateFilter(filterAsString);
+		}
 
 		/// Clear the filter currently set on the device
 		/// @return True if filter was removed successfully or if no filter was set, false otherwise
-		virtual bool clearFilter() = 0;
+		bool clearFilter()
+		{
+			return doUpdateFilter("");
+		}
+
+	protected:
+		/// @brief Updates the filter on the device with a BPF string.
+		///
+		/// Only packets that match the filter should be processed by the device after this method is called.
+		/// An empty string is synonymous with ANY filter (i.e., no filtering).
+		///
+		/// @param filterAsString A string representing the filter in BPF syntax  (http://biot.com/capstats/bpf.html).
+		/// @return True if the operation was successful, false otherwise.
+		virtual bool doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString) = 0;
 	};
 }  // namespace pcpp
diff --git a/Pcap++/header/PcapDevice.h b/Pcap++/header/PcapDevice.h
index 68d73eddf..da28371db 100644
--- a/Pcap++/header/PcapDevice.h
+++ b/Pcap++/header/PcapDevice.h
@@ -164,20 +164,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		PCPP_DEPRECATED("Prefer GeneralFilter::matches(...) method directly.")
 		static bool matchPacketWithFilter(GeneralFilter& filter, RawPacket* rawPacket);
 
-		// implement abstract methods
-
-		using IFilterableDevice::setFilter;
-
-		/// Set a filter for the device. When implemented by the device, only packets that match the filter will be
-		/// received. Please note that when the device is closed the filter is reset so when reopening the device you
-		/// need to call this method again in order to reactivate the filter
-		/// @param[in] filterAsString The filter to be set in Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) syntax
-		/// (http://biot.com/capstats/bpf.html)
-		/// @return True if filter set successfully, false otherwise
-		bool setFilter(std::string filterAsString) override;
-
-		/// Clear the filter currently set on device
-		/// @return True if filter was removed successfully or if no filter was set, false otherwise
-		bool clearFilter() override;
+	protected:
+		bool doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString) override;
 	};
 }  // namespace pcpp
diff --git a/Pcap++/header/PcapFileDevice.h b/Pcap++/header/PcapFileDevice.h
index 61513d560..bb06941fe 100644
--- a/Pcap++/header/PcapFileDevice.h
+++ b/Pcap++/header/PcapFileDevice.h
@@ -363,21 +363,18 @@ namespace pcpp
 		/// @param[out] rawPacket A reference for an empty RawPacket where the packet will be written
 		/// @return True if a packet was read successfully. False will be returned if the file isn't opened (also, an
 		/// error log will be printed) or if reached end-of-file
-		bool getNextPacket(RawPacket& rawPacket);
+		bool getNextPacket(RawPacket& rawPacket) override;
 
 		/// Open the file name which path was specified in the constructor in a read-only mode
 		/// @return True if file was opened successfully or if file is already opened. False if opening the file failed
 		/// for some reason (for example: file path does not exist)
-		bool open();
-
-		/// Set a filter for PcapNG reader device. Only packets that match the filter will be received
-		/// @param[in] filterAsString The filter to be set in Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) syntax
-		/// (http://biot.com/capstats/bpf.html)
-		/// @return True if filter set successfully, false otherwise
-		bool setFilter(std::string filterAsString);
+		bool open() override;
 
 		/// Close the pacp-ng file
-		void close();
+		void close() override;
+
+	protected:
+		bool doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filter) override;
 	};
 
 	/// @class PcapNgFileWriterDevice
@@ -476,11 +473,8 @@ namespace pcpp
 		/// Flush and close the pcap-ng file
 		void close() override;
 
-		/// Set a filter for PcapNG writer device. Only packets that match the filter will be persisted
-		/// @param[in] filterAsString The filter to be set in Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) syntax
-		/// (http://biot.com/capstats/bpf.html)
-		/// @return True if filter set successfully, false otherwise
-		bool setFilter(std::string filterAsString) override;
+	protected:
+		bool doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString) override;
 
 	private:
 		/// @struct PcapNgMetadata
diff --git a/Pcap++/header/PfRingDevice.h b/Pcap++/header/PfRingDevice.h
index 716f91ef1..37096d5c5 100644
--- a/Pcap++/header/PfRingDevice.h
+++ b/Pcap++/header/PfRingDevice.h
@@ -315,15 +315,12 @@ namespace pcpp
 			return m_DeviceOpened;
 		}
 
-		using IFilterableDevice::setFilter;
+	protected:
+		bool doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString) override;
 
-		/// Sets a BPF filter to the device
-		/// @param[in] filterAsString The BPF filter in string format
-		bool setFilter(std::string filterAsString);
-
-		/// Remove a filter if currently set
-		/// @return True if filter was removed successfully or if no filter was set, false otherwise
-		bool clearFilter();
+	private:
+		bool removeFilterForAllChannels();
+		bool setFilterForAllChannels(std::string const& filterAsString);
 	};
 
 }  // namespace pcpp
diff --git a/Pcap++/src/PcapDevice.cpp b/Pcap++/src/PcapDevice.cpp
index 616d76ce3..b3c03f58b 100644
--- a/Pcap++/src/PcapDevice.cpp
+++ b/Pcap++/src/PcapDevice.cpp
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		return stats;
 	}
 
-	bool IPcapDevice::setFilter(std::string filterAsString)
+	bool IPcapDevice::doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString)
 	{
 		PCPP_LOG_DEBUG("Filter to be set: '" << filterAsString << "'");
 		if (!isOpened())
@@ -142,12 +142,14 @@ namespace pcpp
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		return m_PcapDescriptor.setFilter(filterAsString);
-	}
-
-	bool IPcapDevice::clearFilter()
-	{
-		return m_PcapDescriptor.clearFilter();
+		if (filterAsString.empty())
+		{
+			return m_PcapDescriptor.clearFilter();
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			return m_PcapDescriptor.setFilter(filterAsString);
+		}
 	}
 
 	bool IPcapDevice::matchPacketWithFilter(GeneralFilter& filter, RawPacket* rawPacket)
diff --git a/Pcap++/src/PcapFileDevice.cpp b/Pcap++/src/PcapFileDevice.cpp
index ee7cbd009..fe987d0d7 100644
--- a/Pcap++/src/PcapFileDevice.cpp
+++ b/Pcap++/src/PcapFileDevice.cpp
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		return getNextPacket(rawPacket, temp);
 	}
 
-	bool PcapNgFileReaderDevice::setFilter(std::string filterAsString)
+	bool PcapNgFileReaderDevice::doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString)
 	{
 		return m_BpfWrapper.setFilter(filterAsString);
 	}
@@ -876,7 +876,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		PCPP_LOG_DEBUG("File writer closed for file '" << m_FileName << "'");
 	}
 
-	bool PcapNgFileWriterDevice::setFilter(std::string filterAsString)
+	bool PcapNgFileWriterDevice::doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString)
 	{
 		return m_BpfWrapper.setFilter(filterAsString);
 	}
diff --git a/Pcap++/src/PfRingDevice.cpp b/Pcap++/src/PfRingDevice.cpp
index 0638c40e7..cf6992332 100644
--- a/Pcap++/src/PfRingDevice.cpp
+++ b/Pcap++/src/PfRingDevice.cpp
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		return SystemCores::IdToSystemCore[sched_getcpu()];
 	}
 
-	bool PfRingDevice::setFilter(std::string filterAsString)
+	bool PfRingDevice::doUpdateFilter(std::string const& filterAsString)
 	{
 		if (!m_DeviceOpened)
 		{
@@ -374,6 +374,18 @@ namespace pcpp
 			return false;
 		}
 
+		if (filterAsString.empty())
+		{
+			return removeFilterForAllChannels();
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			return setFilterForAllChannels(filterAsString);
+		}
+	}
+
+	bool PfRingDevice::setFilterForAllChannels(std::string const& filterAsString)
+	{
 		for (pfring* rxChannel : m_PfRingDescriptors)
 		{
 			int res = pfring_set_bpf_filter(rxChannel, (char*)filterAsString.c_str());
@@ -394,7 +406,7 @@ namespace pcpp
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	bool PfRingDevice::clearFilter()
+	bool PfRingDevice::removeFilterForAllChannels()
 	{
 		if (!m_IsFilterCurrentlySet)
 			return true;