Advice on firewalls

[jazzman111]

I recently bought a Dell 310 desktop with Windows XP. I have a high-speed cable connected to a wireless router which supports my IBM wireless Notepad. I was told when the latter two devices were set up that I wouldn't need to install a firewall product--the router took care of that. But does the router also offer protection to the desktop PC? (I just checked and the cable runs from the cable modem to the router, not the desktop tower.) If not, what are the best firewall products?

 

[TamedTech]

If all your deviced get thier internet connection from your router, and the router has a Firewall built in then you'll be reasonably safe, also keep in mind that Windows XP SP2 has a firewall built in aswell, i'd imagine you will be reasonably safe.

The cheapest option if you want to protect yourself further is a software firewall installed on your PC, but its not really my thing, i've always felt they are an additional drain on the system rescources in the security crazy world ... i've always opted for hardware solutions if i've been worried.

Rob

 

[electronicsfreak]

Advice on your router for helping keep it secure, first off Id reccomend activating xps firewall. Second off adjust the dhcp user in the router to the number of people on the network. Otherwords if theres only 2 people using it, make the number 2. The best type of firewalls are actually hardware because if they fail so does your connection. Software ones can help but still can be shutdown and leave your computer vulnerable. I would stick with xps firewall but if your looking for some software one I would try zone alarm. That is only if you are not comfortable with xps firewall.

 

[jazzman111]

Thanks for the suggestions. As a matter of fact, I did install Windows XP SP2 firewall, figuring it probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[bygeek]

Home use routers typically use NAT addressing, but some also incorporate SPI which is even more secure. If your router doesn't have SPI, I would recommend a software firewall.

 

[Rhombus65]

In my opinion you need both a hardware firewall and a software firewall.

The hardware keeps people out of your computer and the software prevents viruses from sending info out of your computer.

Windows XP firewall does not protect from viruses only incomeing.

I use Zone Alarm which is a free software firewall that is really easy to use. You can download from the link below.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conte...NE?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=dbtopnav_zass

"The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing..." -Albert Einstein