Do i need a software firewall if i have a router?


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Been asked a bajillion times, but a software firewall will monitor outgoing traffic, the router only monitors incoming.

Edit:

I just looked up that model router you have. It has both NAT and a firewall, huh? Wouldn't really see any need for another software one then. My router doesn't have a built in firewall but does do NAT. I prefer to have a software firewall in combo with the router. It's up to you. Hopefully, wouldn't be any conflicts with router firewall and a software one.

Been asked a bajillion times, but a software firewall will monitor outgoing traffic, the router only monitors incoming.

My router actually monitors both. I think it just depends on the model you have. But when I first had it it only monitored incoming then I switched it to monitor both. But I agree that software firewalls are useless. Especially the one in XP SP2

I just got a Linksys WRT54G and it has a firewall, do i still need to keep the software firewall on my PC or can i get rid of it and just use the firewall in the router?

thanks for your help.

PS. My software firewall is Sygate Personal Firewall (Free Edition)

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IMHO your router along with the XP built-in firewall is all you need :cool:

All firewalls seem completely useless to me. I've never used on in my entire life and have had no problems. I connect straight to the modem and don't use any routers or anything. I do, however, avoid downloading CRAP that opens ports and runs spyware on my computer (which most of you seem to enjoy downloading).

The only reason why you should use a software firewall in conjunction with a hardware firewall is to protect your outbound. Personally, that's the only reason why I use ZoneAlarm in the first place, though my newer x64 system runs with Windows Firewall due to lack of alternatives. Nonetheless, the router does its job on that system.

i absolutely HATE software firewalls. They use up resources that could be used with something else. Honestly, if I didn't have a router (i actually have the same exact router as you do) I still wouldn't use a software firewall. I'm weird like that though. I recently just started keeping an anti-virus going. That's only because I found out about NOD32 which uses VERY little resources.

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