If anyone is thinking about getting your masters degree...don't. J/K. After a long hiadus I am back. I am getting a double masters degree at Arizona State...now that my p-roject is over I have returned. I recently switched over to cable internet. I have two systems. There is one downstairs that the modem plugs in to. There is also one upstairs that is connected via a wireless router. My question is, would it be possible to use a software firewall along with the router on the upstairs computer. I realized there are ports that are not stealthed. Also, I like knowing what applications are able to transmit. I have tried simply configuring the router (to at least p block the open and closed ports) but to no avail. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Hi n8chavez Could you explain a little more about your setup. Are both systems connected to the modem separately? Are they both behind the router? Yes, there should be no problem in running a software firewall on the system behind the router if you wanted to. If you have ports that are showing as closed or open, that will likely be a router configuration issue. Without knowing a little more about your setup and what ports are of concern, it's hard to advise what steps you could take. A software firewall on the system(s) behind the router would help with which applications can access the network/Internet, but not with the port issue. Regards, CrazyM
The dowstairs system is connected straight to the router which is connected to the modem. The upstairs computer is connected to the network via wireless NIC. I went to www.grc.com (Gibson Research) and was told there that port 113 was closed. Then at www.pcflank.com I was told that port 113 was stealth and that port 1080 and 23 were closed. I don' think the firewall does anything on the upstairs system other that regulate application access. I have Agnitum 2.0 Pro and everything was stealthed when I was on dialup. I switched to Kerio 2.15 since then because I like the power and the ability to customize of the rule-based firewall. I created a rule that was supposed to stealth 113. So I don't think that could be the problem. Thanks again
Hi n8chavez With both systems behind the router, it will be the router that deals with unsolicited connection attempts and inbound scans, not the systems on the LAN side unless you have forwarded any traffic through the router. The closed response for port 113 is normal for a number of common routers. You are still secure, as closed is closed and no unsolicited traffic will get through. If "stealth" is something you prefer, a work around for most routers is to forward port 113 to a non existent/unused IP on the LAN side. Regards, CrazyM
