Okay, here we go. Got the linksys router box. no, not the wireless or I would not be here but, I do have family in China, Utah, Vegas, Virginia and New Jersey. I do use my web cam for video chat with my cousins and all but when I turn on the firewall for the router, I can't do ANYTHING and not only that but, I don't like people looking over my shoulder so my two questions are.....
1. how do i set up my firewall and not have it affect all my chat programs (trillian=aol, yahoo, messenger and ICQ)
2. AGAIN, can someone suggest a way to hide my ip address? i have heard people saying they "hop onto an offshore server and do their browsing that way so that the 'ip address' is never a true ip address. Although, I hear this is only applicable as well as capable with a wireless router. please clarify.

Thanks in advance. You can get in touch with me using all the chat programs i use or e-mail or...post here and I will check back. Mahalo!