Kitz ADSL Broadband Information
adsl spacer  
Support this site
Home Broadband ISPs Tech Routers Wiki Forum
 
     
   Compare ISP   Rate your ISP
   Glossary   Glossary
 
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Author Topic: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.  (Read 5500 times)

Technophobe

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 18
    • Davies Khan Immigration Advisers
Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« on: January 17, 2007, 06:54:28 PM »

Having obtained some excellent advice in the technology sub-forum, I thought I'd venture in here for another question (please tell me if I'm a pain).

I've recently set up my Netgear DG834G router (gratis, courtesy of the kind folk at AOL) and I happened to note that it comes with a pre-installed firewall. Now, to my reasoning, having a firewall on the router means I don't need one on my PC, and I've uninstalled Zone Alarm. Have I messed up, or was this a smart move, or doesn't it really matter? I still have the Windows firewall enabled. Should I turn that off, too?

Thanks,

R.
Logged

oldfogy

  • Helpful
  • Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 3568
  • If it ain't broke....... I'll soon fix it.
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2007, 02:52:15 AM »

This is a couple of replies to a problem I had recently, (still not finished with yet).

Quote
The router has a pretty good firewall built in, so she won't be at risk with the software firewall removed.

Quote
Im with roseway on the " dont need a software firewall" with the Netgear.
I know some would argue otherwise - but I wont go into that debate in here as Im sure youre pulling your hair out enough as it is.

Hope this helps.
Logged

roseway

  • Administrator
  • Senior Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 43467
  • Penguins CAN fly
    • DSLstats
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2007, 08:06:42 AM »

All I would add to that is that you must make sure that your anti-virus software is up-to-date. The difference between the firewall in the router and a software firewall is that the latter can also manage outgoing data. The router will give you a near-perfect block against anyone trying to break in, but if you get a virus which sends improper data out, only the software firewall can intercept that. I don't believe that this is a significant problem if you maintain good anti-virus protection.

As an aside, there are some (expensive) routers which do also manage outgoing data by "deep data examination" (or something like that, I forget the exact phrase). These however are for people with deep pockets.

Eric
Logged
  Eric

Technophobe

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 18
    • Davies Khan Immigration Advisers
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2007, 05:47:35 PM »

Thanks for the informative replies.

In terms of anti-virus, I use AVG which updates daily, and once a week I run Trend Micro online scanner just as a back up.

If I wanted to be doubly sure, and were to re-install the Zone Alarm firewall on my PC, would there be any conflict between Zone Alarm and the router firewall?

R.
Logged

roseway

  • Administrator
  • Senior Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 43467
  • Penguins CAN fly
    • DSLstats
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2007, 06:54:22 PM »

I don't use Windows personally, so I can't answer the question. But I doubt if there would be any conflict. The router is, in effect, a separate computer through which your internet data is streamed, so the two firewalls would have no knowledge of each other and no interaction.

Eric
Logged
  Eric

oldfogy

  • Helpful
  • Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 3568
  • If it ain't broke....... I'll soon fix it.
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2007, 07:11:43 PM »

No there will not be a problem, I believe because one is a software firewall whilst the other is a hardware wirewall.

Also conflicts between two firewall programs in my opinion are not that bad.

When you consider that the Windows firewall is activated by default, there must be many PCs running with Windows firewall, Router Firewall and also with one other Firewall all at the same time, with either little or no visible problems.

I say this because quite often when I check my Windows Firewall settings it has been activated and not by me, probably for days or on the odd occasion a week or two.
Logged

kitz

  • Administrator
  • Senior Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 33879
  • Trinity: Most guys do.
    • http://www.kitz.co.uk
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2007, 12:59:12 PM »

No conflicts at all between a hardware and software firewall.

There shouldnt be any conflict between a software firewall and using the Windows firewall, since the windows one is quite unobtrusive.

I wouldnt recommend using 2 software programs - even if it doesnt cause any conflicts it would be a complete waste of computer resources. 
Some software firewalls can be quite hungry and running 2 may well slow your system down.
Logged
Please do not PM me with queries for broadband help as I may not be able to respond.
-----
How to get your router line stats :: ADSL Exchange Checker

mr_chris

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 3774
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2007, 01:41:43 PM »

Just to add - running 2 firewalls (by which I include the Windows Firewall) can make things very frustrating as you try to enable rules on one, forgetting about the other...

Having said that, a lot of commonly available software firewalls will disable the Windows one when they are installed anyway, as I cannot think of a single reason you would ever want two software firewalls running on your PC.
Logged
Chris

Technophobe

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 18
    • Davies Khan Immigration Advisers
Re: Uninstalling a firewall from a PC.
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2007, 08:29:38 PM »

Thanks, folks. As there shouldn't be any conflict, I've decided to reinstall Zone Alarm on my PC, and it's working well.

R.
Logged