[Gixmo]

Ok i gusse this is where i would put this as seeing that it is a upgrade.

I need to know what i need to get and witch is better for security purposes a hardware or a software firewall.
What are the pros and the cons and what one i should get.

Thanks in advance.

[Advertisements]

you want both...get a router and zone alarm...the free version is fine...after getting everything set up... go to shields up and test your defences...make sure you have hardware and software set to stealth mode...

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[happyrock]

you want both...get a router and zone alarm...the free version is fine...after getting everything set up... go to shields up and test your defences...make sure you have hardware and software set to stealth mode...

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[Kurenai]

I'm personally against software firewalls, as they tend to cause more problems than they solve for anything but very basic users.

That being said, if you go ZoneAlarm, pay for it. The free version does some...interesting...things to your system, especially if you try to uninstall.

[happyrock]

I Install zone alarm on all the computers I build...the free zone alarm...and never have had any grief from it...I support all the systems I build and if zone alarm caused problems in any way I would not use or install it...with that said the only problem I ever had was with the paid version and that was when I tried to uninstall it...a 2 minute registry cleanup fixed that

[astrosoup]

I'm personally against software firewalls, as they tend to cause more problems than they solve for anything but very basic users.

Truth. I have the same complaint about ZoneAlarm as well any other software firewall I have used. Its a never ending hassle trying to get it to play nice with my other programs.

[SOORENA]

For hardware if you want a good one I guess you have to pay but I found THIS which is cheap and whoever bought it gave it 5 stars then again I've never heard of the brand.

Soorena

[astrosoup]

From my understanding, routers act as firewalls. Alot of routers I've played with have different firewall settings available. At the very least they make it difficult to access a computer behind it, just by getting in the way.

[SOORENA]

From my understanding, routers act as firewalls. Alot of routers I've played with have different firewall settings available. At the very least they make it difficult to access a computer behind it, just by getting in the way.

Yes this is true you can find this at the routers Setup page which is usually reachable by the address 192.168.0.1.

Soorena

[james_8970]

From my understanding, routers act as firewalls. Alot of routers I've played with have different firewall settings available. At the very least they make it difficult to access a computer behind it, just by getting in the way.

Yes this is true you can find this at the routers Setup page which is usually reachable by the address 192.168.0.1.

Soorena

Soorena that's your IP, if anyone else types that into their browser it will not bring them to their router.
You can find your own IP, by typing ipconfig within the command prompt.

I would have to agree with Kurenai, get a 3rd part firewall. I myself have had interesting experiences with the free version of Zone Alarm and recommend against downloading it.
James

Edited by james_8970, 10 December 2007 - 06:45 PM.

[SOORENA]

From my understanding, routers act as firewalls. Alot of routers I've played with have different firewall settings available. At the very least they make it difficult to access a computer behind it, just by getting in the way.

Yes this is true you can find this at the routers Setup page which is usually reachable by the address 192.168.0.1.

Soorena

Soorena that's your IP, if anyone else types that into their browser it will not bring them to their router.
You can find your own IP, by typing ipconfig within the command prompt.

I would have to agree with Kurenai, get a 3rd part firewall. I myself have had interesting experiences with the free version of Zone Alarm and recommend against downloading it.
James

Well if I remove the route I get my external IP to be my IP but when I put the router in I get the 192.168.0.1 which is the IP of the router. Most routers have this address, for example my friend also types that to get to his Bell Router.

Soorena

[james_8970]

Most routers have this address, for example my friend also types that to get to his Bell Router.

There may be multiple routers that do, but mine for one does not, and I wouldn't doubt others are the same.
This may be the case for Bell routers, but no one outside of eastern Canada (as I'm pretty sure their Internet service doesn't extend outside those barriers) will have one.
James

Edited by james_8970, 10 December 2007 - 07:26 PM.

[astrosoup]

From my experience, alot of routers have their own individual IPs. Usually they can be found in the manual or setup guides.

I just installed the Webroot firewall on one of my machines and ESET's firewall on another. So far I haven't had to mess with anything popping up. However, anytime I want a new program to do anything on the internet behind Webroot's fw, I have to go in and give it full permission. This isn't really something that Joe User would want to mess with, IMO.