I don't post much out of the GARM but figured there are so many of you guys who work around computers all day that it would be worth a shot to post this here as well to accompany my research... Here is my questions / dilema: 1. I just got hooked up to RR and want to put in a firewall on an older computer and use it as such. How can I accomplish this fairly inexpensively? 2. Once I get the firewall going I want to put in a mini network for a new PC I am building and my laptop for work, going wireless on the laptop and probably RJ45 on the tower, any thoughts/comments? I have some ideas and work around computers quite a bit but certainly am no expert, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. David
Most wireless routers will come with its own firewall to protect your older and computer and 3 or 4 RJ45 ports. So essentially, when you go shopping for your wireless router, just make sure it has a built in firewall and enough ports to support the wired part of your network.
You can install Linux and iptables to make your old computer a firewall, here is some instruction: http://www.zdnetasia.com/insight/hardware/0,39043471,39068519,00.htm http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/07/1720217&from=rss
Dont have time to go into detail, but if you want to make that old box a firewall.. look into a Smoothwall.. it's free and does a good job, but most out of the box routers built it firewalls do a good job for the everyday user..SMOOTHWALL
Agreed. A linksys router for $99 at Best Buy typically includes a firewall. Not only is that easier to setup and maintain, that firewall is probably more secure than a firewall running on Windows (that still needs updated antivirus and Windows Updates).
Thanks for the quick feedback guys. This is all very helpfull. Where is the best places to buy online? I know of Newegg, Mwave, Tiger Direct etc.....any preferred, don't use?
