In article <wA7sj.6869$R84.5236@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net> ,
me@privacy.invalid says...
> >> I don't know much about it, but I've read that a hardware firewall
> >> is supposed to provide more security, at an added cost.
>
> > Hardware based FireWall appliances are far better then software
> > FireWalls and don't hog resources.
> >
> > Even a NAT Router with simplistic FireWall constructs is preferred.
>
> Outbound protection only though.

Actually, even the simple NAT appliances provide INBOUND protection from
unsolicited traffic/scanning. As a matter of fact, in a 1:MANY NAT,
which is how those cheap appliances are setup, unless you poke a hole in
it, and the default is no holes mapped, you won't get any Unsolicited
traffic inside the LAN.

Additionally, most of the cheap NAT routers offer a way to make ports
LOCAL, that can't leave your LAN - and I always make ports 135-139, 445,
1433-1434 local ports.

When you combine the cheap NAT routers with monitoring software like
wallwatcher you have an effective means to monitor in/out traffic from
your NAT appliance.

--

Leythos - spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 to email me)

Fight exposing kids to porn, complain about sites like PCBUTTS 1.COM
that create filth and put it on the web for any kid to see: Just take a
look at some of the FILTH he's created and put on his website:
http://forums.speedguide.net/archive.../t-223485.html all exposed
to children (the link I've include does not directly display his filth).
You can find the same information by googling for 'PCBUTTS1' and
'exposed to kids'.