Firewall issues

[Guest]

I connect to the internet using a 1.5 Kbps DSL connection and have been told
by Qwest that my connection is fine.

I have the windows firewall on as well as an anti spyware program (Spy
Sweeper from MSN) and McAfee Virus Scan installed. My connections and page
changes are very slow and periodically my computer simply stops going from
page to page and is very sluggish. What is the best way to make use of these
spyware programs and the Microsoft firewall that will not inhibit my
connectivity. Qwest tells me that there is something blocking my computer
from getting to certain sites and that my DSL connection is fine. Do I
really need all of the extra spyware and firewall protection as my modem has
a firewall so I really have two firewalls and possibly a third in my wireless
router which is currently set up as an open access point (no access to my
computer or network, it is simply for accessing the web on my wireless
laptops).

Thanks

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Since you have firewall type protection in your router try booting into Safe
Mode with networking after disabling the Windows Firewall to see how
performance is. If it is a lot better try booting into regular startup and
leave the Windows firewall disable to see how it goes. If it slows down a
lot then one of your startup applications is causing the problem which you
can troubleshoot via msconfig doing selective startup. I would suggest that
you use only one perimeter firewall which should probably be the router and
disable the one in the modem if it really has a firewall built into it. Then
use your Windows Firewall if you still want to in order to protect your
computer from other computers on the network if any. Make sure that none of
your other applications do any sort of firewall filtering as some antivirus
programs will via worm protection or other such labels.

Also there can be problems with MTU [maximum transmission unit] setting for
DSL that you can tweak in your internet router via its settings. Sometimes
it needs to be lowered to around 1450 if I can remember correctly from
default level. Ask your ISP about MTU tweaking to see if they can help. I
had DSL at work for over a year and everything worked fine and then one day
I had problems similar to yours and reducing the MTU setting to eliminate
packet fragmenting solved the problem which was a common problem at least a
couple of years ago. --- Steve