Page 7 - 1906
P. 7
(Continued from page 6)
Not Shopping Around Enough Firewalls
You do need to shop around - that is, if you
want to get the best deal. Don’t just go into
Best Buy and assume your options are limited
to those devices at those prices. Shopping at By Dick Maybach, Member, Brookdale Computer
a single retailer (especially a brick-and-mortar User Group, NJ
shop) will guarantee that you’ll miss out. Every
big retailer is going to have some deal going at www.bcug.com
any given time, so you’ve just got to hunt for n2nd (at) att.net
the right one, which means checking way more A firewall is a program that monitors traffic on a
than one place. I suggest you look at network and rejects any data that violate its se-
Newegg.com, TigerDirect.com, Amazon.com, curity rules. One way to classify a firewall is by
and BestBuy.com. If you’re brave and knowl- its location: it can be host-based, where it re-
edgeable you can see what you can find on sides on a computer and controls all the data
eBay.com. Check the manufacturers’ web- transferred through its data port, or it can be net-
sites. Check Costco and other retailers. If you work-based where it resides on a modem or
shop around and are patient, you’ll get a good router that connects a local area network (LAN)
deal on a new computer. to the Internet. The latter is sometimes inaccu-
rately called a “hardware firewall,” although it is
actually software, but running on a router, a mo-
Setup and Warranty dem, or a dedicated processor rather than a gen-
Finally, there’s the matter of setup services eral-purpose PC.
and warranties. Choosing to get a warranty is
an extra cost, which I do not recommend, but it
adds some security. If you’re concerned about
physical damage to the computer, an acci-
dental damage warranty isn’t a bad idea. As
far as setup services, if you know your way
around a computer, or know someone who Figure 1. Network-based Firewall.
does and is willing to help, you can likely pass
on having a professional set it up — most of The primary purpose of a network-based firewall
what’s done is pretty simple. If everything is to isolate your home network from the Internet.
about computers is like a foreign language to Without one, your networked printers, PCs with-
you and no one you know tolerates your tech- out host-based firewalls, and shared storage de-
nological deficiencies, it may be worth the vices would be available to the world. A host-
money to have a pro come set up your new based firewall is very similar to a network-based
one; the major difference is its location. It iso-
computer and get you up and running.
lates the data on your PC, primarily on its disk,
from other computers on the network. If you use
your laptop to access the Internet through a wire-
less (Wi-Fi) hotspot, only its firewall protects you.
Some firewalls, e.g. that included with Windows,
(Continued on page 8)
7
