Hi Steve.

It really depends upon which virus invaded the system.  Some of the more
recent Internet worms use a technique of polling IP addresses until an
unguarded one is found and then the Internet worm infects that machine.  In
worms or viruses of this type, a hardware firewall can give some additional
protection above and beyond what the antivirus software does.

Software firewalls have their advantages too.  A software firewall, in many
cases can be set up to block unauthorized traffic in both directions,
thereby limiting the effectiveness of spyware.  That is not to say that
they are a replacement for programs like Ad Aware or Spybot, because your
system can still operate very poorly with spyware attempting to run in your
system, but a software firewall can at least guard your privacy, provided
that it is used correctly.

Software firewalls are not without their drawbacks, though.  They must, by
the nature of what they do, constantly utilize processor time which will
slow down your system a little, especially where the Internet and e-mail
are concerned.  It is an acceptable tradeoff under most circumstances, but
a hardware firewall does not use any processor time, and has less of an
effect on Internet transfer rates.

I run a software firewall here, and have found performance to be fairly
good on a 1.7 Ghz AMD Athelon processor.  The firewall that I am using is
the one that is built into Norton Internet Security.  It is not very
"adaptive technology friendly" though, especially for Window-Eyes
users.  That brings up the second drawback to software firewalls--they are,
in many cases, unfriendly to screen readers.

So, while I think that software firewalls are a viable alternative, and
incidentally, the only alternative for dial up users, I don't think the
computer store was entirely wrong in what they told Walt.  But regarding
antivirus software, you really need both a firewall and an antivirus
program these days, and if you are on the Internet very much, you had
better find something to scan for spyware, too.  It is so prevalent on the
Internet that if you aren't scanning for it regularly, the chances that you
have some and your privacy is being compromised is 100%.

73, de Lou K2LKK





At 11:50 AM 7/13/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>Well, the computer store is trying to generate extra money for itself.
>
>A router is a device which allows you to share a connection on more than one
>computer.  In most cases, you install the router between your cable or DSL
>modem and the router then routes the packets to the appropriate computer.
>This allows you to connect up to 253 computers on a home network with most
>routers.  Since you only have one computer, you don't need a router.
>
>As an additional protection, routers have built-in hardware firewalls.  But,
>it's just one more thing to configure, in my opinion.  You can get similar
>protection with a good software firewall.  Second, a firewall might keep
>hackers from getting into your PC, but it affords no virus protection.
>
>So, go figure!  My only guess is in the best case, the computer store
>salesperson is uninformed; or in the worst case, they are trying to getmore
>bucks from you and have given you erroneous advice in order to get it.
>
>Steve, K8SP
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Walt Sebastian" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 10:48 AM
>Subject: ROUTERS
>
>
>Hi Guys,
>I seem to have a virus.  I called the computer store and was asked if a
>router was installed.  I guess one will be now.  My question is, what is a
>router and what does it do for you.  At the moment, I have one computer, if
>that makes any difference.  73.
>
>Walt
>WA4QXT
>New London CT
>[log in to unmask]

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
Home e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work Telephone:  (585) 697-5753