Firewall Question

[the_new_guy]

I went to a website and it tested my ports and some other things. It told me that either 1) I had my computer unplugged from the internet (which is not true) 2) My computer wasn't even turned on (which obviously wasn't true) and 3) my computer is in "Stealth Mode" becuase I have an excellent firewall.

What does "Steal Mode" mean? I didn't think my firewall was that good as i got it for free!

Thanks for any answers to my questions.

[Hadoob024]

what website did you try this at? i'd wanna give it a shot too. btw, what firewall are you running?

[emrys]

lol it must be awesome or the web site is lying :P...well stealth is like this think of it as hotmail.com....u ant connect to the smtp port on hotmail.com but u KNOW it has to be open if it wasnt no emails would go out or in ...it just means it is blocked to others

[alittlebitnumb]

"Stealth Mode" means the port scanner cannot find the service or port at all.

[toori5ky]

Mmmm lets have the website and try this one out....

[preacherman481]

Your computer is in stealth mode when it "drops" or ignores packets rather than "rejecting" them. When a firewall "drops" a packet, it ignores it. No indication is given to the sending computer as to the fate of the sent packet. When your computer does this (due to a firewall), your computer is said to be in "stealth" mode. This is like being invisible on the internet. Without a firewall, your ports may be closed and rejecting unwanted packets, but they may still be advertising their presence (and the existence of your computer) by returning a "reject" signal to the sending computer. Although they won't be able to do anything with closed ports, the "rejected" packet response lets them know you're there.

Think of it like this. A closed port is like a locked door on your home. A burglar sees the door, but he can't get in. A "stealth" port is as if they can't find your front door at all.

[Valor]

Think of it like this. A closed port is like a locked door on your home. A burglar sees the door, but he can't get in. A "stealth" port is as if they can't find your front door at all.

Yep, just think of it like that, very good analogy.
I believe I've seen this website a couple years ago - It either displays your ports as 'open', 'closed', or 'stealth', if this is the same one I'm thinking of.

I don't believe it does a full port scan though, or back then, it didn't. It's a good starting off point though.

[preacherman481]

There is an online scan at www.grc.com. It also gives some explanation about closed, stealth, and open ports.

[jaguar291]

Hey the_new_guy , what firewall are you using and what site did you test it at?

[the_new_guy]

I have Sygate Personal Edition Firewall and I tested it at https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2.