Should I buy a standalone firewall?

jamieh

Hi all,

I have a standard Eircom Netopia 2247 router.

I'm working from home these days and I need to be sure that my network is safe.

I know there is a built in firewall in the netopia but don't know if it's any good.

Am I better off buying a firewall, something along the lines of a Sonicwall or is the Netopia a decent firewall?

Razzuh

Hi, I wouldn't bother buying anything if I was you. Sonicwall is really something for large networks, not a home connection. The in-built firewall on your router is good enough in the sense that it will protect against people randomly trying to access your network (it basically blocks anything coming in unless it's a reply to something a computer on your network sent out). A firewall for each computer in your house is advisable to complement the one in your router. The firewall applications on computers allow you more control over which software applications on that computer are allowed to access the internet (send outgoing traffic). The built-in router firewall won't stop a virus on your computer sending everything it can get to someone else: the firewall on your computer should block the virus from sending the data (it will ask you if it has your permission).

The two firewalls between them should be adequate for you I think. For the computer, windows has a built-in firewall that should be ok for most people. If you want more control, there are free and pricey options available (I think 'comodo firewall' is supposed to be good free one).

FruitLover

I'd only recommend a standalone firewall if you had a direct (non-NAT) connection to the internet. As your Eircom router is almost certainly performing NAT (and anyway, has a basic firewall built in), that plus a software firewall on your internal computers as advised above should be fine.

Naikon

An embedded board and a Linux/BSD installation with iptables/PF beats everthing else. requires effort though. Cheaper than something like a Cisco PIX too.