Router Firewall

[mrlayance]

How reliable do you think broadband router firewalls are?

 

[ryandmiller]

I think it depends upon what you do with it, but I think they are necessary. I have seen many clients who have had to deal with viruses etc, because they didn't have one. It is a minimal must have if you have broadband IMO.

 

[voyager622]

I have 3 XP machines networked with a router and high speed internet. My Norton firewall notifies me of any attempted probes! This might happen once every 6 months! I had aol on a dedicated telephone line and one 98SE Machine with ?Black Ice?. It was getting probed 20 to50 times a day!!! The router is an excellent hardware firewall!! That should be backed up with a software firewall and always update your router firmware. Hope this helps.

 

[JackMDS]

There are no reliability issues, since the Firewall always performs the same.

You need to understand what the Firewall is providing and supplement it with what ever you deem necessary to your style of using the Internet.

All Entry Level Cable/DSL Routers by default are NAT-Firewall. Some have additional protection like Statefull Package Inspection (SPI).

When you use few computers to share one Internet connection, the information that comes from the Internet needs to know to which computer it belongs. The main function of Cable/DSL Router is to Route the Internet signal to the requesting computer. This function is called Network Address Translation (NAT).

As result information that comes from the Internet and was not requested by one of you LAN?s computers (e.g. hacking attempts) does not know where to go, and it is blocked, hence NAT Firewall.

When you are connected to a Website or downloading files, a lot of junk can get to your Hard Drive. Since you requested the pages for the site the NAT Firewall will not block what comes in from this page. If the ?Site Keeper? loaded the page with ?Junk? it will get to your computer.

[/i]So you have NAT-Firewall but you can end up with Viruses, Zombies, Trojan etc. "Dished" to you by sites that you visited on your own volition.[/i]

Since the NAT-Firewall blocks only Incoming, any communication initiated from any of your LAN?s computers will go out to the Internet, and will be answered. As a result programs calling home, spywares, ?zombies? etc. can communicate freely in lieu of the NAT Firewall. You will not be aware of these activities unless you monitor the communication locally with a software Firewall.

Most decent software Firewalls will alert you to existence of this communication, and will allow controlling it in various ways.

In addition using programs like Ad-ware, and Trojan Blocker, will further secure the Network.

How much safety you need? It is a matter of Surfing habits and personal preference.

More here:

Link: Basic Protection for Broadband Internet Installation.

Link: What is the Best Firewall?

Link: Wireless Security for the Home User.