Router or medem??

[feygan]

Ok I'm on a 2Mbs service and all runs fine wth the supplied router, except for any program where i need to forward ports. (BT voyager 205) even after doing everything needed (setting rules, allowing firewall exceptions etc) I still find port tests always fail. That and the relavent programs then fail to perfoem. I do have an old internal adsl modem which i have tried and found to work perfectly in every way (with the bonus of not needing to forward ports).

My real point is what am i losing out on by not using the router?? Is it less secure for me or what??

[mikeco]

most people just use routers so they can connect 2 or more pcs to the same internet connection or to send files to another pc.

the router having ports just makes it so if some one did iphere:portnumber the router would see if its set to go to a pc and if not then it just doesnt do anything so the user who trys to get to that ip/port just gets no info back.

so theres no need for a firewall realy if u got a router unless u want to set it so some programs cant get on the net.

having a firewall on a pc that has a normal modem insted of a router means that u can set the firewall to just allow or disallow incoming connects sorta like the router.

hope that helps.

[StephG]

Modern routers have two purposes. First they allow more than one PC to access the same boadband connection. A lot of homes have more than one PC nowadays. Second they act as a hardware firewall to make you safer when using he internet.

Software firewalls do not do the same job as hardware firewalls. It is less secure to use a software firewall than to have a router.

[feygan]

Ok so I use a full pro version retail firewall along with peer guardian 2, both get updated daily. I'm only using one pc to the connection, and do indulge in p2p. Is it really worth the extra hassle of slow speeds etc i'm having with ports for how ever much extra security i'm getting?

[StephG]

It really depnds on how much protection you want and whether you have a static ip. If someone is looking to get in control of your computer and a software firewall blocks them then they know for sure that there is a pc there. They can then target that ip and try to get in. If your ip changes then that isn't really a problem because you won't be there the next time. However if they get in the first time then their program can "phone home" and let the owner know where it is. You can then be used as part of ddos attacks, be the victim of a keylogger etc etc.

If they try your ip and you have a modern router then it wont block the attack it will simply ignore it. That way there is no signal back to the attacker and they will not know it is a real ip. They will then just move on elsewhere. I think there ar other advantages, even if you only want to connect 1 pc, but thats the main one imo.

It's really just down to how much protection you think you need. I wouldnt even think of not using my router nowadays with the number of hackers and scammers on the internet.

This might help you http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-NAT.asp

[StephG]

I just realized you said you had a commercial firewall. If you are using xp with its firewall turned on as well that may be part of the problem. I had bother with things before, so now I just use the xp one and everything seems to be ok. I dont know how good the xp firewall is though and you may want to turn that off and use your commercial one.