Comments for Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

Comment from Ed on 2008-07-21

2008-07-22T01:56:46Z

I fix computers from time to time and I think some may have been hacked into. When I fix them I don't use my router with a firewall I just connect via my modem and after there repaired I hook my router back up.
So if the hacker can see my ip addy am I still safe since I put my router with firewall back up or should I use my router all the time even when I do repairs

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from David Vogl on 2008-05-14

2008-05-14T15:29:22Z

Leo, sorry, I can't type. That IP was 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.199 among others.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from David Vogl on 2008-05-14

2008-05-14T15:25:54Z

Leo,
Lately, according to Zone Alarm I have NUMEROUS programs all trying to contact 192.198.0.198 and .1 and 224.0.0.22 which appear to come from Africa! At your suggestion on the air I bought a D-Link DIR-655 router and NOD32 AV. I deleted ZA as I thought you said all I needed was the router. I'm really worried "something" is on my computer despite complete scans by NOD32 and several other on line scan programs. Should I go back and install Zone Alarm again?
Am I in danger and should I worry?
Thanks, Leo,
David

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2008-02-06

2008-02-06T17:38:05Z

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I have seen this, though as you've seen it;s hard to find
documentation on it. The DSL modem at my wife's business was
handing out 192. addresses just as you describe. This does
imply that it's doing NAT, and does imply that it is acting,
in some regard, as a firewall/router. And yes, that would be
sufficient.

And to clarify your lead-in statement, yes a firewall is
still neccessary - it just might already be in your modem.

Leo

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Rln Zastovnik on 2008-02-05

2008-02-06T01:13:36Z

FIREWALL NOT NEEDED? Everyone says use a router/firewall when using DSL, cable, etc. I helped a friend with a new AT&T DSL account and insisted that he buy a router. So he purchased a Netgear router. During the setup, I was surprised to see that the modem was giving out a private 192.168.1.x address. Are they putting NAT firewalls in the modems now? None of the documentation mentioned that there was already a firewall. I installed the Netgear router anyway because I was not sure. Maybe he didn't need to buy the router? I still can't find any info about firewalls being included in DSL modems.
-Ron

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Comment from deepak on 2007-01-27

2007-01-27T08:23:16Z

our office having intranet so there is some sites are blocked so how to use rediffbol bypassing the proxy..kindly let me know

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from brandy on 2006-11-23

2006-11-24T04:38:16Z

hey... i need a little help.. i cant seem to check my emails... i can get onto the hotmail.com website, and i can type in my email address and password.. but when i hit enter, it says page cannot be displayed. i personaly think that it is because of some kind of firewall. but i have no idea how to disable it. can you help me?

can you IM me on aim at gummybear52291 please???

thanks

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from S. Naqvi on 2006-09-22

2006-09-22T19:59:10Z

We have AOL's security system on our computer. My wife chose the computer check on AOL, and chose some option that keeps turning off our internet connection after a minute or so.

We have a router that our computer connects to. It has an IP address that the fire wall seems to reject, but allows initially.

If we go to Google, it allows us connection for a long time. But as soon as we try to go on Yahoo.com or msn.com or aol, then our internet connection gets interrupted. We have to disable and enable our connection again and again to connect for short periods of time.

Please Help.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Faye on 2006-05-20

2006-05-20T13:02:32Z

I wanted to get back at my sister for sending me a lot of forwarded chain letters and other dumb stuff so I sent her a barrage of funny emails frm a certain site. It didn't end up the way I had planned as she had just put in a firewall(called firefox) on her comp,she said she couldn't access them,but one frm another site she could see. Why is that? Thanks for ur help!

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Suresh on 2006-05-15

2006-05-15T10:09:14Z

Hi Leo,

I have Windows 200 professional and Mcafee viruscan 7.1 on my laptop.I have been having my dial-up connection from AOL for about 2 weeks.I did one mistake.I did not update my latest dat file from NAI.com for the viruscan.During that period some virus has entered my system and diabled my task manager.Later I updated teh latest dat file.But still I started getting messages from virscan that a virus file SVCHOST.exe could not be deleted fro c:\winnt\svchost.exe.Then I found this file in that location was just 1 week old.I also found one more file in location c:\winnt\system32\svchost.exe old dated and also smaller in size.Then c:\winnt\system32\svchost.exe to c:\winnt\svchost.exe.The viruscan report stopped coming but now this exe keeps executing itself from c:\winnt\svchost.exe on a empty command window and finally I have got a message on my desktop showing high risk of spyware and some problem on RAM.Please let me know what should I do.I have my Windows ME factory edition for my laptop.Should I go ahead and install the OS.If I take a backup of data on split drive D do I have a chance of getting viruses from the backup.

Thanks,

Chamu

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-13

2006-02-14T03:13:37Z

You do need a firewall of some sort, so ask your friend why he said not to. The article you just commented on outlines my suggestions.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from bob on 2006-02-13

2006-02-14T01:13:39Z

i just bought a new computer and when i went to the screen for my firewall, it was turned off. i turned it on and a friend told me i should turn it back off? what exactly is the firewall? i am not very smart when it comes to computers.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-01

2006-02-01T18:14:57Z

That's a HUGE topic :-). I'll start you here, though: http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_keep_my_kids_safe_from_internet_garbage.html

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Comment from Carmelia on 2006-02-01

2006-02-01T18:05:01Z

Dear Leo;
I am a soon to be foster parent of teen aged girls and I want to protect them from as many potential Internet related problems as possible, including chat rooms with unseemly types. What suggestions do you have for parents/foster parents with kids who want to use the Internet?
Ann

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Dan on 2005-10-22

2005-10-22T15:00:36Z

I use Sygate Personal Firewall, it is free and does an excellent job

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from Shravanthi on 2005-10-03

2005-10-03T17:21:40Z

My computer has a Norton Personal Firewall installed. and the rediff bol application is not getting started because one of the ports is blocked because of the firewall. What do i do to make the application work without turning off the firewall.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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Comment from sirigos on 2004-10-30

2004-10-31T00:46:23Z

Gibson Research is a fantastic free site everybody should use.
thanks for the tip

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Comment from Melinda on 2004-10-25

2004-10-25T17:55:35Z

My computer has a firewall from Windows Service Pack 2 and virus protection. My question is I just purchased an internet system with 5 protection programs, which includes a firewall and antivirus protection, Do I need this in addition to what I already have? or is it unnecessary.

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Comment from Melinda on 2004-10-25

2004-10-25T17:55:07Z

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Comment from Leo on 2004-09-07

2004-09-08T02:44:32Z

I'd find out what your firewall is blocking that's preventing those things from working, and then adjusting it to allow what you need. How for both will vary depending on what firewall you're using. Internet viruses can happen fairly quickly (people downloading patches have gotten reinfected faster than they can download), so I'm hesitant to recommend turning off the firewall completely.

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Comment from Felix on 2004-09-07

2004-09-07T18:54:37Z

I've found that while my firewall is up, I cannot post to some forums, nor register with some sites (like my local newspaper classifieds.) Can I turn it off for these functions and still be relatively safe?

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Comment from Leo on 2004-08-24

2004-08-25T04:33:01Z

Depends on what you're doing, but in general, the answer's no ... the NAT firewall will do the trick.

It does for me.

Thanks!!

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Comment from Jack on 2004-08-24

2004-08-25T03:28:46Z

Thanks Leo for your excellent site. I gain more here than many else.

I am now using Linksys wireless-B Broadband router (same as yours) for my home network. My question is: Do I still need firewall in my computer in addition to the in-built firewall function of the router. The latter in my understanding is via NAT.

Thanks a lot in advance.

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A comment on: Do I need a firewall, and if so, what kind?

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