Patrick Sweeney Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I finally gave in to the weekly calls offering some kind of high speed internet service or another. I'm going with a cable modem from my cable provider. ($19.95 a mo for 6 mo, then $42 a mo after that.) Any suggestions to make it better? It doesn't come with firewall software. What's best? Where to get it? They're charging me for the modem. Is it worth the $3 a month savings to buy my own? If so, which to get? Which to avoid? Hopefully it will speed things up enough to make it worht the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 First off, get a router such as the Linksys BEFSR41 even if you only have one system. Although it's not a firewall solution, it's a good start since it will block all incoming ports except the ones you specifically open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heiter Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 The Linksys does NAT so it makes a pretty effective firewall. I would agree with Rob and highly recommend it. You can find them for around $50. I would also look at buying a cable modem. You can buy your own from a CompUSA, etc. for about $50-60 but most of the cable companies will let you buy from them for around $30. Check w/ your cable company for their prices. I'd stick with a Linksys or Motorolla. I haven't heard anything bad about others but I've used both of those extensively and like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Make sure first they don't gouge you for using your own modem. Comcast, where I'm at, changed their rates a couple years ago, basically lowering the price for people renting modems, then raised the rates for the people NOT renting modems an equal amount. Their motivation was obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 If you have a laptop get a wireless router, Netgear Wireless G ones were on sale (may still be) at Staples for $50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 My advice: 1) Avoid Linksys like the plague. They might use the same hardware that other companies do, but their firmware is the most bug ridden crap I've ever seen. I had to reboot my router every day. Even cheapie D-Link is 100X more reliable. (Sorry Rob and others) 2) Buy the modem that your cable company recommends. Not all modems are the same or compatible. Like Brian H said, it was just as cheap for me to rent my modem. The reason for that is that the cable companies are probably sick of doing tech support for everyone who buys an incompatible modem. The one advantage of renting is that if the modem craps out, you just exchange it for another one. 3) Buy a separate hardware router with a firewall - even if you only use it on one computer. This will de-reference your internal IP addresses from you external one and make it VERY difficult for a hacker to hammer into. Mine cost me less than $50. You couldn't pay me enough money to run a software firewall and feel secure. If you are not willing to put up HARDWARE security, DO NOT HOOK UP YOUR COMPUTER TO HIGH-SPEED INTERNET. When I was on cable, I had guys trying to hammer into my system all day, every day. You have been warned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Pat, To re-inforce what others have suggested: 1. Rent the modem. $3.00 is NOTHING if it breaks and you need a new one (I've had to have mine replaced TWICE in 4 months!) 2. Skip the firewall SOFTWARE, buy a router. I personally recommend Netgear as they are inexpensive and easy to set up. This also gives you the added benefit of being able to add computers to the same modem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 There is a Belkin router on Buy.com for $20 after a rebate. I haven't used the Belkin but for $20 it is deal. If you even remotely think you might want to expand your home computing network a wireless router is a good move. Even with only one computer it frees you up to move it around the house without rewiring. With a laptop wireless is the only way to go. -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 To add to Kath and a host of others: 3. Buy an Anti-Virus Package (I use Norton) and update it regularly from the manufacturer's website. Run a full system scan at least once a week. (Both of the se feature can be set up to automatically run while you're asleep) 4. I still like running Norton's Internet Security in addition to the router. Stay away from Norton's System Works --- it sounds cool when you're reading about it, but I found that it really bogged down my system. Welcome to the 20th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 So far have had good luck with Norton anitvirus..we get smacked everyday with something..also have had good luck with the Linksys router/firewall.. watch the incapatiblities...found out that Adelphia, Windows 2000 and MacAfee together would cause our modem to drop off and need reboot..take away any one of them and the system was OK...course none of the three tech supports would tell you that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 1. Rent the modem. $3.00 is NOTHING if it breaks and you need a new one (I've had to have mine replaced TWICE in 4 months!)modem! Renting also means you won't get dinged for a service call if the cable company comes out and decides it's a modem problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I've been extremely happy with my SMC Barricade Ethernet (Firewall) Router I use behind Earthlinks DSL router. And I can't remember the website at the moment, but they ping your line to test for hacking ease. When I tested the SMC it was rock-solid safe. Now I'm sure it could be hacked through, but why would someone go to all that trouble when there are so many unprotected IP addresses out there. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 Thanks for the info. My plan is: Router (this goes downline from the cable modem, right) as we are planning to have a networked two-machine (or three) system here at home. Software firewall. I have Norton Systemworks as my virus protection. I went to it after McAfee let in too many viruses. I don't run S-W continually, as it slows down my system (Pentium III, 466Mhz, no kidding) too much. I'm not keep on a wireless network, just from security. Yes, the encryption is "unbreakable" for all intents and purposes, but no one is going to hack a hard line unless they can get to it. I can run cable, no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Patrick - how did the viruses come in? The most common is Email and the browser. Email - you might check your email settings to filter out certain types of attachments - don't trust the AV's to get all these. Have it filter out anything executable - I would think that's 99% of the problems out there. There are like settings for the browser too.. Cable Modem - Router/hub - computer(s) You might look at a combo that has these 3 Router/Hub (most are these days) Wireless Print Server Then you can expand easier later... The nice thing with the print server, yuo don't need to keep one computer on to print from another - they both print directly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentG Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Above all else use Zone Alarm, the basic is free. The port and security test refered to is http://grc.com/default.htm Its amazing what you can learn about how wide open your machine may be. Use the "shields up" tests to find out more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Patrick, I'll strongly recommend that you run an anti-virus and an internet security program continuously on broadband on all machines. That said, in my experience Systemworks really bogs a machine down --- I haven't installed it on my last three for that reason. Feel free to lose it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chris Harrison Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Lots of good advice here. I would suggest that you also download a freeware program called "CableNut". Then you can print off any of several configurations for your operating system. The program will fill in those values to your registery to optimize your system for use with a cable modem. You can have signficant improvement in broadband performance by doing this. However you may need to go through several configurations to find the one that works best on you machine. You can download CableNut from www.cablenut.com. You can also run system and connection checks and get advice on forums from www.pcpitstop.com. This site is full of good information and thier internet speed test is the most consistant I've ever used. If you use Norton System works, make sure you set the internet tools to do a regulare cleanup of temporary internet files. Get a spyware removal tool. A decent free one is Lava-Softs Ad-Aware. It doesn't protect you from getting spy ware but it will find it and remove it when you run the program which you should do often. Cable modem speed will vary, depending on how far away you are from the D-Mark and how many users there are your trunk. I know guys that swear they consistantly get download speeds of 1.2 Gig or better while other say that they average 800 to 900 K. Hopefully you should get 80% of your ISP's advertize "UP TO" speed. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGlock36 Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Well just to mirror a few and reinforce: Get the Company's modem. I have had 6 go on me in the past 7 months. No charge to me as they belong to the company. Gets expensive at $30 a pop or so. Get a hard ware fire wall. Some software ones are nice like Black Ice but nothing to truly compare. Use zone alarm. Free tool and coversa a lot of holes in your comp. Get a router. Most have firewall protection built in. I wont reccomend a specific on as many have been already. Yes the router goes after the modem. Hook your cable into the modem and run and cat5 line (comes with the modem) into your router. Dependin on how many ports you have you can network as many as you want. If you want to do more than the router allowes just hook another cat5 cable into the last port and jump it to the first port on switch. Low dollar one is ok for this. Then you are off and running. The router will borrow the IP addy from your cable provider and allot internal IP addresses to your computers. FYI from a friend that made the mistake. Dont tell the cable company that you are going to net work more computers. Let them come and hook it up to one machine and when they leave hook it up for mulit computer access. They will charge you for the extra IP address if you tell them you are going to do that. Best and let me know if you need any more help. Paul Franklin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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