do i need a s/w firewall??

**tiggerbiker** · 19th April 2005

i run zonealarm, norton antivirus and the microsoft anti spyware thingy.
i also have my computers connected to a d-link dsl-604+ wireless adsl router- do i need to run zonealarm? i have heard from many people that it slows network through put (it slows transfers between my dreambox / kiss dvd payer / xbox and pc) basically i have had it installed for months and it has blocked 4 intrusions - 0 if which are high rated.

do i really need it and put up with slightly slower network speeds or would i be safe to wipe it off as im behind a router???

thanks for any advise

**Pegasus** · 19th April 2005

All depends on how well you have configured the firewall in the router as to whether you need to run a software based one as well.

All things being equal though, you are relatively safe by default from any unauthorised incoming connections as soon as you are behind NAT

**tiggerbiker** · 19th April 2005

thanks PT,
i have set up the router as well as i can, i think i will remove ZA for a while and see if all is ok for a couple of weeks.

its just a bit annoying when it takes a bit longer than it should to transfer a lot of data between machines on my network.