Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: ygsmilo on March 23, 2005, 09:44:03 AM
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Do I need to run a firewall behind a router for my DSL connection?
What is a good router to use?
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The router itself does have a hardware firewall but last word I got was run a software firewall as well.
I use ZoneAlarm. It's free and pretty EZ to set up. And does a good job. Doesn't seem to affect my connect. I wasn't using it and started getting some really bad warping, stutters, etc. So said to myself ah what the ..... gettin it anyway so. I started using it again and it immediatly showed someone from brazil was using my machine to access something else????
Since I've been using ZoneAlarm I usually get a nice flat line connect. Provided I keep the spyware, etc. off my machine.
However at times, if you forget to tell zonealarm about the last update, you can't connect. It can drive ya nuts until you remember to quit AH and click remember and allow.
I used it when I had DSL and cable, and use it with dialup now.
Keeping the spyware off can be a real challenge! Using 4 different anti-spyware progs, zonealarm, and Anti-Vir anti-virus. All are free to home users. What 1 doesn't catch the other ones do.
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You may be mixing your terms.
A DSL modem may not have a firewall or router inside. What most people need is a "broadband router". The DSL or cable modem plugs into the wild side (WAN) of the router, and then your computer plugs into the safe side (LAN) of the router. Most of the broadband routers out nowadays include reasonably robust firewalls IF THEY ARE CONFIGURED PROPERLY. I can't stress proper configuration enough, since most broadband routers ship with default passwords that are either blank or something silly like "admin", and even worse, some ship with remote administration turned on with the same default passwords, so anyone on the internet can get in and change all your router/firewall settings. You gotta turn all that stuff off, change the passwords, etc. before you can trust your broadband router.
After that, running a software firewall is personal choice and is mostly protection within your lan to help out in case you run a trojan horse (bad email attachment, bad web site, etc) and that may help prevent a virus/trojan from within your own lan killing all the computers you have hooked up on the same subnet. But a software firewall inside a hardware NAT router/firewall probably isn't really doing anything for you as far as keeping out external attacks. Neither will help you if you open an email attachment or execute malicious code on your own though.
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The router I would purchase would be between my DSL modem and my pc. What is a good non-wireless router with a fire wall int it?
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I have a d-link router and it works fine. It's relatively easy to set up and secure too. I had a DI-604 but I think there are newer versions of that one out now. You should be able to get one for about $40.