Do i need a firewall still

ash7jar · 5 Feb 2008 at 18:45

Right ok this might be a bit of a noob question sorry if it is!

I have just bought my self a Netgear DG834N 270Mbps RangeMax NEXT Wireless ADSL2+ Modem/Router and I was wondering if I still need Zone alarm on my pc at the same time?

I understand that they have a hardware fire wall on them but don’t really know how they work as this is my first Modem/Router.

Thanks for the help

Furton · 5 Feb 2008 at 20:15

Just make sure that the firewall and NAT options are enabled and you should be fine without ZA, especially if your using Vista's built in Firewall as a 2nd line defence.

ash7jar · 5 Feb 2008 at 20:33

ok cool thanks,

Is there people out there that still use both?

atomiser · 5 Feb 2008 at 20:46

the network address translation and stateful nature of the router will mean that nothing can get from outside -> inside unless it is initated from the inside. unless, of course you are doing some port forwarding. my advice to you would be to look at the outbound firewall rules on the netgear because it is likely it will be wide open. for basic web browsing and email you only need dns, http and https. if you use a mail client you will also want to add pop and smtp to that list. i would recommend you block everything else and then only permit what additional services you need as you need them - that way, if you do get anything nasty on your pc it limits a) if it can talk home and b) if it can keep a stateful connection open from inside -> out therefore allowing further nasties back in. i would still recommend you run some decent anti-virus and anti-spyware programs in the background though.