Secure DSL connection sharing

[firewall]

I have set up my 2 PC's and a notebook to share a DSL connection. Both PC's run Zonealarm Pro and are connected to the switch through the onboard LAN. The switch and an Aztech ADSL 305EU router are connected through the ethernet interface.

My question is: How secure is a PC running behind a router? I tested my PC on grc.com's Shield's Up test and it had all the ports closed except 80 and 23 which are for HTTP and FTP respectively. After that, I enabled DMZ and set my PC as the DMZ host. A retest showed all ports were in stealth mode. Will the other PC be able to access the internet in a safe way if my PC is shut down since it is the DMZ host? Do I even need to use DMZ?

How secure and effective is my configuration? Is there anything I can do to improve it?

Also, sometimes, the speed gets abysmally low and this didn't happen before I set up the router and switch configuration. What could be the possible causes of this?

Thanks for any help!

 

[firewall]

Another issue is that the LAN connection from the Switch to my PC is in the Trusted Zone in ZoneAlarm Pro. Does this poses any security issues?

 

[firewall]

Hello???? 18 views and not a single answer? Posting this in OT would have atleast garnered some responses.....

 

[spidey07]

It actually sounds a little insecure. You want to eliminate any way for a computer to contact you. Your router does this by default. If you setup a host as a DMZ host that allows the rest of the world to communicate with your machine. generally not a good idea unless you want it to act like a server.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: asadasif
Hello???? 18 views and not a single answer? Posting this in OT would have atleast garnered some responses.....

There is no answer since it seems that the insecurity is Not technology related but knowledge related. And happened to be that Spidey is a very nice guy.

No way in the World a Computer on the DMZ is more secure than behind a Router.

Gibson's Site is Nice, but God he isn?t and you have to learn a little more about the issues and Not to take On line scanner so Concretely.

Unless you are running a Bank Services, or a Deposit Box for Secret Gov. organizations, a Router + Software Firewall is more than adequate.

Want to know a little more.

Link to: Basic Protection for Broadband Internet Installation.

Link to: Freeware Security suit for Internet Connection Protection.

:sun:

 

[firewall]

Originally posted by: spidey07
It actually sounds a little insecure. You want to eliminate any way for a computer to contact you. Your router does this by default. If you setup a host as a DMZ host that allows the rest of the world to communicate with your machine. generally not a good idea unless you want it to act like a server.

So just putting my PCs behind the router is enough? I tseted it on grc.com and some ports were open. I thought that might pose a security risk.

 

[firewall]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Originally posted by: asadasif
Hello???? 18 views and not a single answer? Posting this in OT would have atleast garnered some responses.....

There is no answer since it seems that the insecurity is Not technology related but knowledge related. And happened to be that Spidey is a very nice guy.

Yeah, I am a networking n0ob. Just started learning all this new stuff and tried googling it but most sites I looked at were useless.

Want to know a little more.

Link to: Basic Protection for Broadband Internet Installation.

Link to: Freeware Security suit for Internet Connection Protection.

:sun:

Thanks! I will look at them later.