H i E v e r y b o d y (Dr. Nick We have 4 computers networked. And one stand alone. One of the network computers is hooked to the internet through a dial up modem. We had SirCam go through the whole network a while back. (Never read your e:mail early in the morning before you wake up ). We are getting a dsl connection next week. Any suggestions on firewalls and virus protection would be appreciated. I understand there are hardware devices and software solutions. Cheers,
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Duncan, when it comes to FireWall software, the only one you should even consider is ZoneAlarm. The rest are junk.
ZoneAlarm lets you configure your local network properties as well as configure the internet security.
Your DSL provider may have some sort of firewall on the line as well. I know my DSL provider back in Arizona does. I have ZoneAlarm installed on the machine plugged into that DSL line and I've never gotten any warnings about outside accesses to my computer unless it's just a ping from the ISP. When I was on Dial-up, I got access warnings out the wazoo from ZoneAlarm.
Anyway, if you want to go with a hardware solution, check out DSL routers, many of them have firewalls built into them and they're configurable via your web browser with an administrator login.
Posted by Mark Smith (Member # 298) on :
We have a linksys 4-port Cable/DSL router and love it. It makes the PCs invisible to the outside world.
For trojan horses ZoneAlarm is the best there is.
The combination will lock you down tight!
Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :
Duncan,
I run both, software and hardware. I’m with Mike and Mark on the software end of things: ZoneAlarm!
My hardware setup makes it virtually impossible to see the individual PC’s; very similar to Marks setup. The DSL line feeds into a Netgear gateway router, which in turn gets feed into a Cisco switch.
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