Cable Internet

[ame1usn]

I am really new with networking and anything other than dial up so I have a quick question about broadband internet. Finally I will have an alternative to dial up internet available. I am pretty much sure that I will go with cable but I have heard that it is pretty hard to protect a cable connection. My question is; will traditional firewalls such as zone alarm work effectively with a cable connection? This is going into my home and will have at least three computers on it, can I use a router to enhance my security.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Mike

[moxnix]

Yes ZoneAlarm wii protect you on cable. Some firewalls are considered better than others, but in most cases it is just user preference. With the exception of a few highly hardened systems a firewall could be considered a nessessity.

I would strongly recomend getting a router. Not only will it allow you to dirrectly share your internet connection with your other computers but provides a hardware firewall also.

[MilitantEidolon]

Well if you are having a choice between a cable and Dial-up I would go cable. With that being said lets dive into your questions.

From what I gather you are going to be running a single cable connection into your house through a router into a switch which will distribute the connection to the 'three' computers located on your home network. On top of this each computer you will be running ZoneAlarm?

This should keep you fine. Also remember a good antivirus proggie.

- MilitantEidolon

[ame1usn]

Thanks for the advice. I do run zone alarm, adaware and norton corp. on all boxes. Thanks for clearing up my questions.

Mike

[Spyder32]

I do run zone alarm, adaware and norton corp. on all boxes.

Not bad (except I wouldn't prefer ZoneAlarm, but if you configured it correctly than kudo's) combination ya got there. Like suggested above, a router might help you as well since you are now connected to the net 24/7.

[ss2chef]

If you have an extra low end computer with 2 network interfaces, checkout smoothwall.
www.smoothwall.org

Great simple firewall and Internet connection sharing.

SGS

[D0pp139an93r]

Permit me to add a few things concerning cable and security.


1. Cable is a bandwith pool. You may not get the advertised bandwith.

2. Cable connections can also be sniffed by your neighbors...

3. If you have to ask, you need a firewall.

Have you looked into DSL?

[ame1usn]

Yes I would like DSL but it is not available. My choices are Cable, Satellite or Dial up.
Thanks for all the insight please feel free to add more comments, like I said I have never used anything in the home except dial up. This is new to me.

Mike