Software firewall help

since Evilrick made a jab at me since i dont run software firewall on my network i thought i would test this idea out.

since i dont want to load software on all computers i came up with this idea since i have an old Sony laying around

right now i have the new linksys wireless g router which has worked fine for me

now i want to put in a software firewall behind it

so it would be

cable modem--linksys router---computer running sysgate or ZA with two network cards--- switch ---other computers

right now all the computer behind the router have DHCP. i assume the computer running the software will need to have ICS enabled. will this screw up anything with my ip addresses?

Just playing around with some ideas and to have another computer running for my enjoyment i guess

Jason

Your hardware router should sufice for most firewall services (assuming it offers firewalling, right?). The real point of running a software firewall on each system is to have per application rights, thus you can monitor and control exactly what software has access to what networks (LAN, Inet, WAN, etc.).

If you want a low-cost dedicated firewall system, then look to one of the various Linux dedicated firewall installations. I certianly would not protect my network with ZA or Sygate.

My home LAN is currently disabled, but I personally use WinRoute Pro running on Win2K Server for NAT firewalling when operating.

Robert Richmond

i dont trust any software firewall on its own either

and the problem i notice with software firewall is that it leaves alot of stuff in the computer when it unistalled. I cant afford that with some of the machines on my network.

if the software router becomes a pain or doesnt work i just take it out of the equation no harm done to any of the computers

i tried clark connect but it seems to disconnect after a day of use and im not familiar enough with linux to really set up something. With my luck i would leave it wide open

ZoneAlarm is really bad about leaving data on systems after uninstallation.

The Linux idea is not nearly as bad as it first sounds, even for those lacking much experience with the OS. Check this out....

http://lrp.kioss.com/
http://lrp.kioss.com/DiskImages/Dachstein.htm

All you need is an old system and a floppy (or CD) drive. No hard drives, no tedious installation, and simple configuration.

[DVNT1]

IPCOP is another potential solution. It's better now than it used to be.

Any firewall you add with NAT will require IP addressing changes somewhere. There are some transparent or bridging firewalls that would not require IP changes. I'm not aware off any cheap or free ones though but there probably is (btw, I need one).