Charter provides Firewall? Leave router's firewall off?

[scaryfast]

I am using a Belkin N+ Wireless Router.

Charter, the company that provides the broadband, told me that I shouldn't turn on the router's firewall because it would be redundant and just slow things down.

Does this seem right? 🙂

 

[Fardringle]

Ask them if they will (in writing) guarantee that they will pay to fix any and all problems that occur because they told you to be stupid and connect to the Internet without a firewall.

 

[Nothinman]

That makes no sense because most likely the router will be doing PAT by default so no inbound connections will be passed to your PC unless you setup port forwarding. So technically a "firewall", in the generic term that most users use, will be there regardless.

 

[scaryfast]

The router has an option to ENABLE or DISABLE it's firewall.

The User Manual states the following.
*******************************************
*******************************************
Configuring the Firewall
Your Router is equipped with a firewall that will protect your network from a wide array of common hacker attacks including:
• IP Spoofing
• Land Attack Ping of Death (PoD)
• Denial of Service (DoS)
• IP with zero length
• Smurf Attack
• TCP Null Scan
• SYN flood
• UDP flooding
• Tear Drop Attack
• ICMP defect
• RIP defect
• Fragment flooding
The firewall also masks common ports that are frequently used to attack networks. These ports appear to be “stealth” meaning that for all intents and purposes, they do not exist to a would-be hacker. You can turn the firewall function off if needed; however, it is recommended that you leave the firewall enabled. Disabling the firewall protection will not leave your network completely vulnerable to hacker attacks, but it is recommended that you leave the firewall enabled.
*************************************************
*************************************************

So, does my provider, Charter, have these things covered?
If not, are they things I should protect against? (I.E. enable the firewall?)

Thanks

 

[MtnMan]

NAT/PAT (Network Address Translation/Port Address Translation) drops ALL inbound traffic that is not a response to a outbound request from inside the NAT/PAT network.

Are you sure they are not talking about their free and lame "charter security suite" you can download and install (don't).

While it is recommended that you not run multiple software firewalls on hosts, or multiple AV programs, multiple hardware firewalls are common.

Plus consider the source, I have found the "technical expertize" of charter to simply blow groceries.

 

[JackMDS]

Charter is Providing you with a Combo Modem/Router.

If you want to use your Router too for Wireless purposes it sholud be configured as an Access Point with a switch.

Here howto.

Using a Wireless Cable/DSL Router as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html



😎