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Going DSL any advise? (1 Viewer)

Dan Joy

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Dec 8, 2001
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758
New to the computer area, big htr and music nut. Just got tired of slow speeds and local phone co. gave me good offer. I have a 5 yr Gateway 500Mhz proc with Windows 98 2nd ed. DSL says I just need to put in ethernet card since I don't have one. Modem being mailed to home, outside dsl lines on by wed, souonds to simple, I am right. Any suggestions?
Thanks
 

BrianB

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2000
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Download & install "Zone Alarm" - it's a free software firewall. Now that you're "always on", you need better protection against people trying to access your computer remotely, and Zone Alarm does a very good job of this.
 

Tekara

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Jan 8, 2003
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Real Name
Robert
recent addition to the DSL club here, I switched over from cable. the move to DSL was very easy, just a matter of switching out modems and waiting for the connections. as long as you have that firewall, I think your good to go.

just beware of one thing.

with broadband you will spend excessive amount of time on the internet.
 

Dan Joy

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Dec 8, 2001
Messages
758
One more question please. If I have my Zone Alarm fire wall working, do I need a separate hardware firewall as in a router, or is Zone Alarm enough by itself? Right now I do not plan on adding any more computers.
 

Kevin P

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Jan 18, 1999
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If you have Zone Alarm and don't plan on networking more than one computer together and sharing your Internet connection then you don't need a router. You can always add one later if you do wind up with more than one computer down the road.
 

Chris Hovanic

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Jan 3, 2003
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545
I perfer a hardware firewall... frees up resources on your PC and since your running just a 500 mhz PC with Win98 the less stuff u have running the better (IMHO)

Good luck and hope they have the DSL switch pulled when they say they will. If not fight your way through phone support till you talk to a top level support person they will have the answer for you and can expidite getting the problem fixed.
 

John_Berger

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2001
Messages
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Ditto the hardware firewall.

Even Checkpoint, one of the world's premiere firewall and security companies if not THE premiere company, says that installing a firewall on the system that is being protected is a last resort.

If you want to use Zone Alarm to monitor outbound connections (like when Microsoft decides that it wants its Big Brother information on you), that's fine; but I would absolutely not rely solely on Zone Alarm to protect your system from inbound connections.
 

Tekara

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 8, 2003
Messages
783
Real Name
Robert
routers are nice because they are a pain to hack around. they are a pain because the internet will only "see" the router. behind the router all your computers use different ip's than what the router uses.

the easiest way I like to think about it is that if you have a router with a firewall you basically have a middle man that acts as a bouncer for your club (computer) patrons (data) gets sent to the appropriate spot, and rejected if need be. having this person between you and the world can help a lot.

I still use zone alarm, because the bouncer (router) will keep people outside from comming in but not those comming in from going out. but zone alarm will, it allows you to restrict programs already on your computer from sending data out, like spam ware.

a little extra protection never hurts, especially considering a router can always come in handy if you switch internet services or add extra computers to the network.
 

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