use firewall?

[brianl0202]

just a quick question. i have pc-cillen AV which has a firewall included in it that i use. is it fine to just use this firewall or is it better to use zone alarm or something. whats the difference if any. im kinda new to this. thanks.

[GroundZero3]

here is a thread on firewalls
http://www.techimo.com/forum/t84025.html

each programs has its weakness and strong points, just make sure you keep up to date on latest updates

and look over your logs to see what is coming in and going out

[DanGrease]

Its totally okay to use the firewall Pc-cillin includes. Its actually even better to use this firewall than Windows XP's integrated firewall. If you want to install Zone Alarm instead I think you will have to disable the other firewall or else it will give you problems or errors. If I was you I would stick with the firewall your anti virus contains. Its enough

dan

[agathodaimon]

Better yet, if you could get a ROUTER with a built in firewall, that works excellent!
I use Zone Alarm and before I hooked up my router, It would CONSTANTLY be blocking intrusions on my computer... After the router, It's been weeks and I have yet to see ONE intrusion attempt.

But anyways, yeah, the PC-Cillin Firewall should work just fine.

[camaro]

I have a switch/router with one build in. And I also have a Sygate firewall on my PC The one on my PC is crucial to stopping applications from talking to who knows who online. For example, microsoft products always try dialing out. I have everything blocked from using the internet, but my browser. It's all automatically set to ask, but you can block them or allow them also. Not only is this talking suspect, but it causes unwanted traffic and slows the internet down.

I highly recommend a hardware firewall build into a switch/router and a software one on top of it to know what's going on.

[Scott Tiger]

Not a bad suggestion. I happen to have the same configuration on my systems as well. I know I could tighten it down some more but doing that breaks my network. Guess it'll give me something too look at when the next big snow storm hits. . . \\

I know nothing about any of the software firewalls out there besides Sygate and ZoneAlarm. Of the two - I'd highly recommend Sygate.