Firewalling 2 computers

[Peaches4U]

??? I was asked this question: How can one best protect two computerswith a firewall, both sharing a cable connection to the internet. Since I do not own two computers and some of you do, let's have some suggestions. I do not think this person wants to purchase a router which I suggested, so is there another way around this?? Thanks. :)

[Pieter_Arntz]

Hi Peaches4U,

I run a software firewall on all three of them, in spite off the router.

Regards,

Pieter

[MakoFusion]

Why would the person not want to get a router? I think that is the absolute best way to firewall two computers that share a cable connection at least for inbound traffic. First of all both computers are protected right from the get go and even if the software firewall gets knocked off by to many packets the NAT just simply drops the packets.

The second reason is many cable companies require you to pay extra for every computer you hook up even if its just a few bucks a month. Why bother with that when you use your router as a DHCP server and share the bandwith amoung as many computers as you like without paying to have more computers connected. In the end the cable modem finds one computer connected which is the router - and the router splits the signal to all the rest of the computers. In time it would pay for itself with the money you save.

For outbound protection a good software firewall is what you need on all three systems. I know its asking to spend a bit more money but I feel it is well worth it.

[Peaches4U]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Pieter_Arntz link=board=23;threadid=16897;start=0#msg104613 date=1069924159]
Hi Peaches4U,

I run a software firewall on all three of them, in spite off the router.

Regards,

Pieter

" }-

Hi Pieter: This person tells me that she/he cannot access the internet when using a firewall on their 2nd computer [1st computer can access the internet] & that they have/had a virus on it. The information I was given was kinda scant. So Pieter how do you make it work ? ??? Do you think that perhaps the firewall [ZA free] was not configured properly?

[Peaches4U]

-{ Quote: " quoting: MakoFusion link=board=23;threadid=16897;start=0#msg104662 date=1069947288]
Why would the person not want to get a router? I think that is the absolute best way to firewall two computers that share a cable connection at least for inbound traffic. First of all both computers are protected right from the get go and even if the software firewall gets knocked off by to many packets the NAT just simply drops the packets.

The second reason is many cable companies require you to pay extra for every computer you hook up even if its just a few bucks a month. Why bother with that when you use your router as a DHCP server and share the bandwith amoung as many computers as you like without paying to have more computers connected. In the end the cable modem finds one computer connected which is the router - and the router splits the signal to all the rest of the computers. In time it would pay for itself with the money you save.

For outbound protection a good software firewall is what you need on all three systems. I know its asking to spend a bit more money but I feel it is well worth it.
" }-

If it were I, then I would spend the money on a good router. By being cheap one invites all sorts of problems by not praticising good security. Anyway, thank you for your input, which confirms my opinion.

[MakoFusion]

I think that a Linksys router is the way to go. I went out and got BEFSX41 which has NAT, SPI, and VPN. It is named EtherFast Cable/DSL Firewall Router with 4-Port Switch/VPN Endpoint

NAT acts like a firewall
SPI = State Packet Inspection

Upgrade to 1.45.3 Firmware and foward port 113 to 192.168.1.200 and you are good to go.

[Pieter_Arntz]

-{ Quote: " quoting: Peaches4U link=board=23;threadid=16897;start=0#msg104680 date=1069954633]
Hi Pieter: This person tells me that she/he cannot access the internet when using a firewall on their 2nd computer [1st computer can access the internet] & that they have/had a virus on it. The information I was given was kinda scant. So Pieter how do you make it work ?
" }-

Hi Peaches4U,

Depends a bit on how much you want to share.
At the moment I´m using AnalogX Proxy (http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/proxy.htm) which suits my needs and I had no trouble configuring it in my firewalls.
Of course they should make sure that all computers are free of any malware.

Regards,

Pieter

[Peaches4U]

Thank you all for your input ... I have passed along the suggestions which were most helpful. Cheers. :)