Time to hook up a router...

[Clown Monarch]

Alright, got the Radeon 9600 working fine. I don't notice any difference to tell you the truth except my wife's Zoo Tycoon game works now.

Anyway, I want to start using a router as a firewall. Any brand names or suggestions. Someone said I could get one for $20 now.

 

[Jchillin]

How about Linksys? Probably the most popular one on the market. I've attached a link to a store local to me but you can find them everywhere.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3669104

 

[flipz]

A router made for personal use isn't really the best thing to use as a firewall. You can block certain ports, but it won't prevent some adware program from calling home. But maybe you don't need that.

If you are buying one specifically to use as a firewall, don't waste your money (IMO) and just use a firewall program (even a free one like zonealarm works great). If you need a router anyways, Linksys and Netgear are both great brands. You won't find one for $20, however it won't die after 6 months either. Both can be found at Best Buy, or even cheaper online (newegg.com)

-brent

 

[deli_conker]

If you are buying one specifically to use as a firewall, don't waste your money (IMO) and just use a firewall program (even a free one like zonealarm works great). If you need a router anyways, Linksys and Netgear are both great brands. You won't find one for $20, however it won't die after 6 months either.

I second that. If you are only using one computer, then skip the router; it's unecessary.

Zonealarm can be found here.

 

[Clown Monarch]

Zonealarm eh? Excellent. Thanks for the link, too.

I have the Windows service pack firewall, but was told it's not very good.

 

[MikeyB]

One bennefit of a router is that mostly all brands do Network address translation. This along with a software Fiirewall would be Ideal. For spyware Microsoft spyware Beta is doing a great job at battling spyware and the best part is that it is free.

 

[greenfish]

Here is a good link for software firewalls:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads34.html

 

[deli_conker]

For spyware Microsoft spyware Beta is doing a great job at battling spyware and the best part is that it is free.

Considering that the OS affected is their own product, I would hope it does well. Any ideas on when they plan to charge for it?

Network Address Translation is still only a rudimentary form of protection. If telnet is enabled on the WAN port, you can logon and brute force the password. After that you just have to enable port forwarding for whatever you're using and you're on somebody's LAN.

 

[MikeyB]

I dont know what there plans are for it. But here is a link.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
I have it installed on my windows box.