do i need a firewall?

[mazzz]

do i need a firewall?

I have a satilite internet that connects at 11mb, what woulda firewall help with?

 

[marioh]

it helps to stop people from hacking into your PC.
there are other ways to stop that from happening too, but a firewall is usually good enough.

 

[MarineCorps]

This is the firewall I used before it stopped rembering my settings. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/outpost.html

 

[Plexus]

Try ZoneAlarm. I use the free version, works great.

 

[Jeratain]

mazzz came out of the closet to say:
do i need a firewall?

Considering the browsing habits of the average 16 year old, yes you need a firewall. If you use WinXP enable the built in firewall or wait for SP2.

 

[funxus]

If you have many computers at home, or even a LAN already set up, consider buying a physical firewall/router to protect all computers without disturbing the LAN. The XP firewall doesn't work well with a LAN.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Today not having a firewall is not even an option.

 

[crystal]

I'm behind two firewalls. The first one of them is my ADSL router with NAT enabled (generally no incoming connections allowed) and the other firewall is on my desktop computer. I recommend installing a firewall (Kerio Personal Firewall for example) on your computer too because it allows you to regulate outgoing traffic (no more spyware leaking private information).

 

[mazzz]

can I just use the windows one, or is that one to good?

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by mazzz
can I just use the windows one, or is that one to good?

You can and probably should enable that one. A hardware firewall is going to give you the ultimate security, but the Windows one isn't too bad. Once SP2 comes out for XP it should give the firewall more functionality.

 

[FireBall]

The Windows Firewall is a minimum, I would reccomend going with another software firewall (e.g. ZoneAlarm) for more security, or even a hardware firewall (router) for the best in practical security. (For the maximum security, go with a CISCO router... but that's just impractical )