All of the PCs in my home network are connected to the router wirelessly, nothing is connected directly to the router. Would it benefit me to put software FWs on the PCs?. They're Win7 machines. Any ideas?
The only real benefit would be if you wanted to regulate outbound access. Yes, some will argue that inbound protection would be an additional layer, but as long as your router is configured correctly you should be fine. I would use the built-in Windows 7 firewall in this case and save money.
Yes because software firewall is the one that protects your computer by itself . The router with hardware firewall capabilities protects the network , not the computers . In case something splits by the hardware firewall (e.g. virus/malware) , it can easily infect all the computers in your home network . Make sure your computers (software/OS) are always up-to-date and do enable the Windows 7 built-in firewall . It is in no way worse than any other firewall when it comes to protection. A web-site you might want to visit: www.microsoft.com/protect
Wired to the router, or wireless to the router..there's no difference as far as the NAT firewall of the router is concerned. And yes a hardware router (NAT) protects the computers...it, by default, blocks all unknown incoming traffic from hitthing the PCs.
