Router

Hidey ho neighbors,

I was wondering if it is feasible to have a router with my cable connection rather than having a firewall. From what I understand it is a superior form of protection. What type of costs am I looking at, and more importantly, how difficult is the initial set-up? I am not on a network. I also understand that by using a router I do not have to use a modem, except for my phone service (unless someone has a way around that also).

Thanks for any ideas!

 

Okay, a router isn't a replacement for a firewall, unless the router has on built in. Even then, it isn't a bad thing to have a software firewall running on your machine, because there are good bidirectional firewalls available for free on this site that will allow you to more easily and effectively control traffic to and from your computer. Home Routers are getting cheaper. You can get one for approx. $100. You will need your modem, still. You would connect it to a port on the router, and all your computers to the rest. Network setup shouldn't be too difficult, simply put all the computers into the same workgroup, and share the folders/files you want in the properties of said file or folder.

 

You could use a router as a firewall.. but as Mada_Milty eluded to most 'consumer' routers have a firewall built in. But if you were using a 'real' router there is a way to manage traffic & ports via an ACL (access control list) - used to filter traffic.example.
Still a good idea to run a local firewall on the PC to know exactley what is going in & out.