Should I software firewall or not?

L

laptop

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 11, 2002
Messages
247
I am wondering if I need 2nd party software firewall's on my computers.
I have a vonage router (VT2442) with firewall and WinXP firewall.
I have a simple network with 5 computers on the router.
All I do is share some files between computers (1 holdes my MP3's).
I dont hold important stuff like taxes or bills or CC numbers on my computers.
Is the combination of my router and WinXP firewall good enough?
 
I just found softpedia's personal firewall. It's free, so why not? Better to be safe than sorry
 
The only thing I am looking at is how much a firewall can bog down my system.
If I dont need it I would rather go without.
I had zone alarm and boot times were a little slower.
I didnt notice any lag in windows from it though.
 
I almost never restart my computer. Since loading that Softpedia FW I have not noticed any lag. The one thing I really liked about softpedia over Comodo is that when first loading, it prompts you for which common ports you want open. Comodo seemed a bit hit or miss. With Comodo, I would occassionally have to turn it off and turn it back on because I couldn't get out to the internet. Rules are less confusing to create in Softpedia vs Comodo. I'm a security nerd, so I would recomend one. I mean, the ones listed above are free, so unless you're running 256MB RAM and trying to game, why not?
 
I'm fine just behind some hardware firewall running NAT. There's no need to "combine" the XP firewall with a router...the XP firewall is inbound only. A routers NAT is inbound only. The router stops everything inbound, by default.

However, there's no harm in leaving the XP firewall enabled....really don't slow down the system.

But..if you want a good software firewall....try Comodo.
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

It's free, it's constantly being updated and improved, it's easy, and it's lightweight.
 
I recently had problems with a newly built system. It would connect to the wireless router (as it was wireless), but not go out on the internet. Well, turned out I had to disable Windows' firewall in order to get out. Just an FYI if you run into trouble.
 
protias said:
I recently had problems with a newly built system. It would connect to the wireless router (as it was wireless), but not go out on the internet. Well, turned out I had to disable Windows' firewall in order to get out. Just an FYI if you run into trouble.
Click to expand...

Windows firewall has no bearing on this...just some coincidence in your case.
 
protias said:
Well, I still consider it a software firewall ;)
Click to expand...

It's only inbound...1x direction. It literally cannot do anything to prevent you from being able to connect to the internet...it also literally cannot prevent you from pulling DHCP from a service such as a router, or prevent you from connecting to a wireless access point. I wasn't saying it's not a firewall, I was saying it wasn't the Windows XP firewall service which prevented you from connecting to the internet or a wireless access point. It doesn't stick its nose in either of those two areas at all.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
I'm fine just behind some hardware firewall running NAT. There's no need to "combine" the XP firewall with a router...the XP firewall is inbound only. A routers NAT is inbound only. The router stops everything inbound, by default.
Click to expand...

This is what can get people in trouble, both at home and in the enterprise. Its often referred to as the "hard outer shell, with a soft chewy center" syndrome.

However, there's no harm in leaving the XP firewall enabled....really don't slow down the system.

But..if you want a good software firewall....try Comodo.
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

It's free, it's constantly being updated and improved, it's easy, and it's lightweight.
Click to expand...

Werd! Layered security is a good thing, mmmkay (even if its minimal, its better than none, or one in this case).

I found this to be an interesting article: http://www.networkworld.com/supp/security2002/models.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top