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Firewall advice

Posted: Thu 18 Jan, 2007 8:04 am
by Vexo
My Norton subscription finally ran out, so I ditched it with much joy. So now I'm back on my Sophos Anti-virus, but lacking a firewall. So, this is my question.

I used the firewall checker at Symantec and it says, that I'm fully covered. But this is my ISPs firewall, which covers about 2500 other users. I'm guessing that the firewall also covers my local network ("dorm") which consists of roughly 30 apartments. So... I'm wondering... do I need a seperate/personal firewall? And if so, could I "settle" with the WinXP one? Seems to me, that that'd cover the essentials.

Posted: Thu 18 Jan, 2007 10:17 am
by Mazia
I just use the Windows one - sure its as easy to get through as swis cheese but then again it doesnt take me long to resetup a machine. Black ice used to be good no idea these days

Posted: Thu 18 Jan, 2007 10:29 am
by Pania
Also looking for a decent firewall. any suggestions would be swell :D

Posted: Thu 18 Jan, 2007 11:10 am
by Golgolath
Pania wrote:Also looking for a decent firewall. any suggestions would be swell :D
Don't use one :p

Posted: Thu 18 Jan, 2007 11:52 am
by Pania
Sitting behind a router is good enough yer? ive checked the ports etc. they appear hidden an all that jazz.

Posted: Sun 21 Jan, 2007 12:13 pm
by tsuix
Never rely on the windows firewall by itself, and never rely on an ISP's firewall. There are all manner of unpleasant people on the inside if your ISP's firewall.

Unless you have particularly sensitive data on your PC, the native windows firewall in combination with a firewall/NAT router is quite adequate.

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I have a Netcomm NB5plus4W modem/router which provides a level of hardware defence. Then I use the Trend Micro small business AV/Firewall solution because I get it free thru work. I haven't been able to fault it yet for antivirus function plus it's very light weight, doesn't seem to slow anything down or cause any crashes.

It's a minumum 5-user pack which is affordable if you split the cost across various family member's computers (ie there's nothing in the licence about them having to be in the same building).

Their single-PC / Home version is called PC-Cillin but I've never used that so can't recommend it personally.

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I can sell you this stuff *grin* but you can also get it through many other vendors. Just remember to NEVER trust a harvey norman type salesman. They're all slime that will over-service you.

Posted: Sun 21 Jan, 2007 12:25 pm
by Creac
Vexo's in Denmark, btw ;-)

Posted: Tue 23 Jan, 2007 3:56 am
by Golgolath
tsuix wrote:Never rely on the windows firewall by itself, and never rely on an ISP's firewall. There are all manner of unpleasant people on the inside if your ISP's firewall.

Unless you have particularly sensitive data on your PC, the native windows firewall in combination with a firewall/NAT router is quite adequate.

---

I have a Netcomm NB5plus4W modem/router which provides a level of hardware defence. Then I use the Trend Micro small business AV/Firewall solution because I get it free thru work. I haven't been able to fault it yet for antivirus function plus it's very light weight, doesn't seem to slow anything down or cause any crashes.

It's a minumum 5-user pack which is affordable if you split the cost across various family member's computers (ie there's nothing in the licence about them having to be in the same building).

Their single-PC / Home version is called PC-Cillin but I've never used that so can't recommend it personally.

---

I can sell you this stuff *grin* but you can also get it through many other vendors. Just remember to NEVER trust a harvey norman type salesman. They're all slime that will over-service you.
To sum up tsui's post....

Don't bother with firewalls ;)

Posted: Sun 28 Jan, 2007 5:48 pm
by tsuix
You lie like a pig in shit, Golgo!