Re: Ask EU - firewalls

Martin Clark wrote:
neil h wrote...
Martin Clark wrote:
Mike McMillan wrote...

A router is an electronic switch that allows for 2 or more 'puters to share an internet connection. As far as the internet connection is concerned, once it has passed out of the cable modem that many broad bean services employ, it is being fed to the network card of a single puter. The router is able to service the needs of (in my case, 4 puters) at the same time.
I understand how a router is a kind of hub to share the internet connection, but how does it act as a firewall and block nasties coming or personal data going out?

In a word, yes. The firewall on the router is hardware based so is more secure than a software firewall on the pc which could potentially be disabled by a virus.

Right, I can see that. My question was "how", though. What does it do? How do you communicate with it to tell it what it should let through?


The router runs a mini web server with an administration page to change the settings. For most people the default settings will be fine for web browsing and email. If you need anything more complex, then the documentation for the application should tell you which ports need to be opened and why.


--
neil h.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Dell PC Restore
    ... > product and id keys otherwise your operating system will be unable to be ... >> Sygate Personal Firewall ... >> stack from working (Internet connection). ... >> Change your internet default settings to these,(XP SP1,SP2 should be ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers)
  • Re: Using two internet connections with one firewall
    ... :> and so I won't be able to add the satellite link to the Firewall. ... You need a separate firewall for each internet connection. ... sides of the firewalls to a hub/switch and then into another router. ... connections or a router with an interface to the firewall, ...
    (comp.security.firewalls)
  • Re: Ask EU - firewalls
    ... As far as the internet connection is concerned, once it has passed out of the cable modem that many broad bean services employ, it is being fed to the network card of a single puter. ... The router is able to service the needs of at the same time. ... The firewall on the router is hardware based so is more secure than a software firewall on the pc which could potentially be disabled by a virus. ...
    (uk.media.radio.archers)
  • Re: Using two internet connections with one firewall
    ... > and so I won't be able to add the satellite link to the Firewall. ... > covering the satelite I would imagine using a fourth NIC. ... You need a separate firewall for each internet connection. ... sides of the firewalls to a hub/switch and then into another router. ...
    (comp.security.firewalls)
  • Re: Web Browsing via PC connection
    ... points at the box providing your internet connection. ... My choice would be to change your setup to use a router. ... You can still run a firewall on your PC, ...
    (comp.sys.acorn.networking)