Hey all, I'm looking to get a hardware firewall. I have no idea what or where to research them. Used a search engine but I haven't a clue on the specs of a firewall so didn't get very far. I'm using zonealarm now but it seems to be slowing my connection down a little. If you could point me in the right direction that would be great. TIA Gil

Linksys and Dlink are two companies that make a decent and reasonably priced hardware firewall/hub for a home user. The highest security features would be to have both installed. A hardware firewall would allow outgoing traffic if you should happen to get a trojan on your system. See thepublicworks, PC Flank, Wilders.Org, Gibson Research for more detailed and professional security recommendations to make sure you are informed about the latest threats. Take care and all the best!

hi gil, I'm in total agreement with the capt. get yourself a router along with a virtual firewall such as kerio sygate outpost or any other good free firewall product for total protection. for more info on routers and firewalls go to www.thepublicworks.com security section, and link to pcflank, pratically networked, firewall guide, wilders.org, firewalls and security, firewall.net,etc. hope this helps, murve

Yep, Router by LinkSYS and then Zone Alarm PRO

Hey thanks fellas, I was thinking along the same lines as you guys. I did a lot of research last night i found a couple that would do. got another queastion. Is it mandatory that i have SPI on the router/firewall. It seems way more secure. But will the other keep me safe. I guess that I should say that I don't really have any info that is calssified but alot of personal data. I don't want people seeing anything that is on my computer. The ones that I found(didn't save the site+having trouble finding) were linksys, seimens, and d-link. How do you know which one is the best for your money? Are there any cable/ router+firewalls avail? I can't find one. But not that experienced yet. Have only been trying to learn all of this the last two months. Someone infiltrated my security lines, now its time to put a stop to his Tomfoolery. Thanks for the advice, if you could list actual makes and models that would be great. Or tell me a good book to get to be where you guys with computer literacy. I really am interested in learning networking and security. This forum has helped me so much. There are alot of people that Im sure make great money on here helping the illiterate and slow learning individuals like myself. Rock on. gil

My likes are: ZONE ALARM PRO v 3 (current) ROUTER: LINKSYS Etherfast CABLE/DSL Router Model BEFSR41 4 port switch, 10/100 Mbps

for best protection online alphashield is probably the best right now. I think it is www.alphashield.com or .net