modems with firewalls

wijcc · 2 Jan 2008 at 11:09

Does anyone know if the firewalls you get with ADSL modems compare favourably with standalone firewall boxes like the ones cisco, watchguard etc make?
Thanks in advance guys

Avalon · 2 Jan 2008 at 11:57

An ADSL Modem normally wouldn't have any form of firewall built in. A router on the other hand would. If you are asking about routers again it all depends on what you are comparing. For your average user your average home kit tends to be fine, most support SPI/IDS and of course NAT by design. That said your average home kit isn't going to cope if you try and run 20VPN's through it.

wijcc · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:06

my mistake a modem/router sorry.

Not really interested in running VPNs more interested about security

neil_g · 2 Jan 2008 at 13:23

we use watchguards but then we use them for VPN and web filtering..

Snapshot · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:54

Yes, all* broadband routers have built-in firewalls.

* This is a generalisation and there may be some that don't but I haven't found any yet.

Caged · 2 Jan 2008 at 21:55

wijcc said:
Does anyone know if the firewalls you get with ADSL modems compare favourably with standalone firewall boxes like the ones cisco, watchguard etc make?
Thanks in advance guys

To put it simply, no. All home routers will perform NAT (because they have to in order to let you share one public IP address) which will block all unsolicited incoming traffic.

Cisco boxes etc will actually look at the packets passing through them and offer much better protection if you require ports to be opened to the big wide world. I think calling a NAT router a firewall is a little bit far-fetched, possibly misleading.

Snapshot · 3 Jan 2008 at 08:13

Most, if not all, modern domestic routers do much more than just NAT and do have effective firewalls. They may not be on the same level as the commercial offerings but are quite adequate for home use.

errata · 3 Jan 2008 at 13:59

Snapshot said:
Most, if not all, modern domestic routers do much more than just NAT and do have effective firewalls. They may not be on the same level as the commercial offerings but are quite adequate for home use.

Mostly yes though some ISP's or makers turn them OFF by default to make setup eaiser and reduce tech support calls. You may have to turn them on and perhaps set a security level.

Modem firewall wont help a lot if something bad is already inside. A software firewall or specialist device would be better then though they can be pretty fearsome for Joe Public

$anch3z · 3 Jan 2008 at 21:04

errata said:
Mostly yes though some ISP's or makers turn them OFF by default to make setup eaiser and reduce tech support calls. You may have to turn them on and perhaps set a security level.

Modem firewall wont help a lot if something bad is already inside. A software firewall or specialist device would be better then though they can be pretty fearsome for Joe Public

utter tosh :eek:

, there are hardly any (if at all) ISP's who send out preconfigured routers. And as was said before modems do NOT HAVE A FIREWALL they simply hold the connection to your local exchange equipment, lastly most software firewalls are carp compared to a hardware firewall in a router.

Also they are very easy to configure, google is your friend and sites like www.portforward.com can lead almost anybody through some simple port forwarding.

errata · 4 Jan 2008 at 08:20

$anch3z said:
utter tosh , there are hardly any (if at all) ISP's who send out preconfigured routers. And as was said before modems do NOT HAVE A FIREWALL they simply hold the connection to your local exchange equipment, lastly most software firewalls are carp compared to a hardware firewall in a router.

Also they are very easy to configure, google is your friend and sites like www.portforward.com can lead almost anybody through some simple port forwarding.

really must tell bethere to stop doing it they are quite a small company I believe, hmm BT sent me a business hub preconfigured as well. Fairly sure I received a retail netgear modem router with firewall off as well.

I dont think many will share your confidence in the superiority of router firewalls either.

The only valid point you make is I said modem at one point your quite right I used shorthand should have said modem/router or router but as the same point had been made higher up the thread is it really worth making yet again.