michael737n - unless you are flipping dipswitchs (or jumping jumpers) to change rules on the firewall then you are using a software firewall of some sorts.

Hell, one of the best on the market is Checkpoint FW1... they are software. Of course you can buy hardware appliances that are dedicated to only running a firewall, but that doesn't make it a hardware firewall.

I have seen this misnomer used much too often as of late.