firewall?

[pigmode]

I'll have cable in a couple of weeks so here's the question. Firewall: needed or not needed, advantages/ disadvantages? Any recommended apps?

pig

 

[SillyMan]

a firewall is needed the free version of zonealarm works just as good as any of the others or tiny personal firewall is ok too its also free

 

[Mooncalf]

Another vote for ZoneAlarm.

Link

 

[Mem]

I read a review of ZoneAlarm it did very well against 4 others,being it`s also free worth getting,btw I use it with no problems.

 

[nickdakick]

Definitely needed, no disadvantages, definitely Zonealarm works like charm for me.

 

[bigbootydaddy]

have to have. might have to let it accept some ports for online gaming in rare instances. totally awesome protection. of course i have norton tho.

 

[Jal]

Another vote for ZoneAlarm

Read comparisons at grc.com

I even paid for ZoneAlarm pro, for the couple of extra features, and I like buying stuff that works and is offered free to start.

 

[Rotorvator]

Another rec for ZoneAlarm
Definitely needed.
After going without a firewall on win95 for about a year, I installed ZoneAlarm. In the span of about 24 hours after install, ZA blocked something like 20+ access attempts - mostly harmless stuff - port scans, failed telnet/ftp attempts, etc.

If you're a linux user, definitely read through the firewall howto's to get started.

 

[Sunny129]

a firewall is definitely a good thing to have, however it does have its downsides. alot of internet connected software will not function properly behind a firewall. i live in an apartment complex fitted with a 256K ethernet LAN. they provide a firewall for the systems on the network, but i like to fly online with FS98, and Squakbox 2.3 beta (a program needed to communicate with other pilots and air traffic controllers) wont work behind a firewall, so i'm stuck using an older version that will. just something to think about...