Quote Originally Posted by gore View Post
Considering that for about the same price as a software firewall, you could get basically ANY router
Free routers?
, which generally has a firewall, or the capabilities to do so, wouldn't it be easier to just get hardware?
Network devices may act as a network traffic light, but they provide little if any *actual* protection for the average PC. NAT itself is a firewall of sorts, if for no other reason than the router will have no idea what to do with a new incoming connection unless a rule has already been defined.

Most common threats breeze right through hardware based firewalls for the simple reason that most threats are delivered via HTTP, unless you have one hell of a firewall (think CheckPoint or SonicWall) with IDS/AV functionality and a current definition subscription you're not going to get any meaningful protection.

Another avenue that has to be considered is the possibility of the firewall (software or "hardware") being compromised itself. I've seen plenty of remote exploits for network appliances, as well as software firewalls. Question is, which is more likely to be updated regularly?