as the subject line states, I will be getting my very first high speed internet access connection & have some questions for the brains 
my chief concern is security...the cable company will be providing a modem only, with only 1 connection, so I will eventually be getting a router of some sort, as I plan to build in the near future a computer for my wife & i downstairs, just for light duty stuff...my gaming rig will be going upstairs....what do I need to keep these computers relatively "safe"? besides obvious stuff such as antivirus/spyware prevention, not opening attachments etc.?
im looking for stuff on the hardware side...will any sort of router provide some protection? are certain types better than others (i would like to go the wireless router path if possible)?
price is a chief concern as well, as times have been a bit tough as of late, hehe
a friend suggested having a firewall separate computer set up as well, but that is also not possible right now...the solution needs to be relatively inexpensive, available fairly quickly, & somewhat future proof in that i sort of need it to be a wireless solution (BTW, i'm in a fairly rural area, so people "stealing" bandwidth on the wireless signal should not be a problem, but I will try to set up to prevent that as well )
basically, is my computer grossly vulnerable if i hook it up directly to the modem for the time being & purchase a router a bit later? will a router provide more protection? are there any decent inexpensive models?
I am using Nvidia's firewall now, but I hear it's prety much a joke...thanks in advance fellas!
my chief concern is security...the cable company will be providing a modem only, with only 1 connection, so I will eventually be getting a router of some sort, as I plan to build in the near future a computer for my wife & i downstairs, just for light duty stuff...my gaming rig will be going upstairs....what do I need to keep these computers relatively "safe"? besides obvious stuff such as antivirus/spyware prevention, not opening attachments etc.?
im looking for stuff on the hardware side...will any sort of router provide some protection? are certain types better than others (i would like to go the wireless router path if possible)?
price is a chief concern as well, as times have been a bit tough as of late, hehe
a friend suggested having a firewall separate computer set up as well, but that is also not possible right now...the solution needs to be relatively inexpensive, available fairly quickly, & somewhat future proof in that i sort of need it to be a wireless solution (BTW, i'm in a fairly rural area, so people "stealing" bandwidth on the wireless signal should not be a problem, but I will try to set up to prevent that as well
)basically, is my computer grossly vulnerable if i hook it up directly to the modem for the time being & purchase a router a bit later? will a router provide more protection? are there any decent inexpensive models?
I am using Nvidia's firewall now, but I hear it's prety much a joke...thanks in advance fellas!
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