Broadband and firewall

[Guest]

I got the provider to look into the matter and have done quite a few speed test which proved that when I turned off my firewall it was very quick on the internet. But when I switched it back on it was very slow again. My provider said it was from my anti-virus programme but I have found that its only the firewall that drops my speed as the anti-virus does not affect it. I am waiting to hear from provider to see if they are willing to give me protection from another company. As does all firewalls slow the broadband connection down?

 

[Jym]

Turn off the Norton if you have found that to be the problem. Before you go
back on the internet activate the XP firewall. You do not want to surf the
internet with broadband without a firewall. Go to "DSL Reports.com" , free
of the web speed test and proper setup check . Jym

I got the provider to look into the matter and have done quite a few speed

test which proved that when I turned off my firewall it was very quick on
the internet. But when I switched it back on it was very slow again. My
provider said it was from my anti-virus programme but I have found that its
only the firewall that drops my speed as the anti-virus does not affect it.
I am waiting to hear from provider to see if they are willing to give me
protection from another company. As does all firewalls slow the broadband
connection down?

 

[Guest]

I am sure I read somewhere that its better to have your own firewall and I notice I already have the one on my computer turned on as well. Is it safer having your own and would the one on XP be enough and as good as the norton firewall. I did test and it was 299 downstream and 240 upstream so its very slow as it was at 459 when I disabled my firewall. Anymore suggestion are welcome, thank you.

 

[Chuck]

I am sure I read somewhere that its better to have your own firewall and I notice I already have the one on my computer turned on as well. Is it safer having your own and would the one on XP be enough and as good as the norton firewall. I did test and it was 299 downstream and 240 upstream so its very slow as it was at 459 when I disabled my firewall. Anymore suggestion are welcome, thank you.

With the current load of worm related traffic clogging the internet, your
software firewall could well be dragging down performance when it has to analyse
and / or log each worm probe hitting your network card.

As others have said, do not surf the internet without a firewall. We would not
want you driving your car with your brakes removed (to cut down on drag and
improve performance), and we sure don't want you surfing the internet without
firewall protection.

Connecting your computer to the internet with a router is an affordable,
effective, and responsible, solution.

Your computer will be safer. The router will block any malevolent internet
traffic. This further protects the internet, from your becoming infected and
spreading the infection.

Your computer will run better, with the router blocking the trash infection
traffic. Even if you run a software firewall also, the firewall will have much
less to do with the trash infection traffic blocked by the router.

If you can afford to have a computer, and broadband, you can afford a router.
For many reasons.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Jym]

Are you saying that you have had both firewalls on at the same time ? If so
maybe that is your problem. The XP firewall stop incoming traffic and the
Norton covers in and outgoing traffic. I have found that the XP firewall and
a good up to date antivirus is all I have needed with my dsl connection.
Jym

I am sure I read somewhere that its better to have your own firewall and I

notice I already have the one on my computer turned on as well. Is it safer
having your own and would the one on XP be enough and as good as the norton
firewall. I did test and it was 299 downstream and 240 upstream so its very
slow as it was at 459 when I disabled my firewall. Anymore suggestion are
welcome, thank you.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Please note that the XP firewall monitors only INBOUND traffic and offers no
protection for outbound. It only does half the job. You should use a third
party firewall that will protect you form worms and trojans, data miners and
keyloggers sending information out over the net without your knowledge.
Even with an updated antivirus, you need a good firewall to protect your
outbound traffic from parasites and malware.

Bobby

 

[John R Weiss]

I got the provider to look into the matter and have done quite a few speed

test which proved that when I turned off my firewall it was very quick on
the internet. But when I switched it back on it was very slow again. My
provider said it was from my anti-virus programme but I have found that its
only the firewall that drops my speed as the anti-virus does not affect it.
I am waiting to hear from provider to see if they are willing to give me
protection from another company. As does all firewalls slow the broadband
connection down?

Norton products are notorious for slowing down systems. Basically, they are
effective products but resource hogs...

You can replace the firewall with Zone Alarm (free or Pro) from
www.zonelabs.com. There are several free antivirus products available, but
I prefer F-Prot (www.f-prot.com) at $29/year (free evaluation version
available). Add a couple free anti-spyware products (AdAware from
www.lavasoftusa.com and Spybot from www.kolla.de), and you get a good suite
of effective products that won't slow down your system anywhere near as much
as the Norton stuff.