how good is winxp pro's firewall?

[bhome83]

hey everyone, i know everyone probably has a different opinion but is there a better firewall besides winxp pro's firewall? ive been using it ever since i built the computer but just curious what you guys use and why. I should say i have a wired network (only 2 computers total on it right now), so i don't know if that makes much of a difference? thanks!

[Ob1]

i use xp software firewall on all pcs and i use a hardware firewall in my linksys router,

I use xp firewall because its very simple to manage and does what i need it to do.

[Panama Red]

Please only post one thread. I deleted two others.

[Cricket]

I just use the WinXP Home SP2 firewall and my Linksys router and don't feel I need anything else as far as intrusion protection goes.

:) CRicket

[Ob1]

i think the only shortcoming of xp firewall is that it doesnt monitor outbound traffic from a pc

[bhome83]

sorry about the multiple threads guys :( my computer froze, so i think i did the thread twice. anyways, so how do i know if my router (i have a dlink router) has a firewall? I had a linksys wireless router before but it wasn't working that good, intermittent connection so im wondering maybe if it had something to do with an internal firewall.

[Ob1]

what model is your dlink router?

if you login to the router, there should be tabs that pertain to firewall settings, turning it on/off, filtering packets, block icmp requests etc.

[bhome83]

router is a dlink DI 604 firmware version 3.30. i don't think it has a firewall, because i checked into the settings and couldnt find anything about a firewall.

[Cricket]

Why are you worrying about your firewall now anyway? Are you having problems with system intrusion?

Is this your router? (http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=62) Because if it is, it does have a NAT firewall built into it.

:) Cricket

[thefultonhow]

If it has a DHCP server, then it has NAT (Network Address Translation), which is essentially a basic firewall. Most if not all routers have DHCP/NAT.

[bhome83]

the reason i ask about a firewall is because my Dlink router works great, but my linksys WRT54G wireless router is a piece of crap. i wanna use the wireless router but too much intermittent connection. goes down after a day or so. i just though maybe the firewall has something to do with it.

[Ob1]

have you updated the firmware on your linksys wireless router?
what version is your linksys wireless router? WRT54G ver. 5 and 6 are crap.

people have been recommending WRT54GL as a solid replacement

[glc]

If yours is a version 4 or earlier, it will work a LOT better with the latest firmware. Not much you can do with a version 5 or 6.

The D-Link firewall is adequate in conjunction with XP's firewall.

[kev7555]

If you do end up replacing it, use WRT54GS. I have multiple customers (and myself) on this model router and it works great.

-Kev