[66BBCONV]

I am switching to road runner and keeping AOL as my provider. My question is about security. Will the present AOL prrotect me sufficiently or should I have other virus protection software. do I need some sort of firewall? I am only worried about what comes from the net as I don't download things from others on my drives.

Thanks Bill

 

[Dean]

I hate AOL and havent used it for a long long time now but I really like the EZ Armor antivirus/anti spam and firewall that Road Runner offers free, no pop ups with IE and no spam in my email.
That's in addition to the virus being removed in my email messages by Road runner before I even receive them.

I do have to turn off the firewall sometimes to be able to see SOME things, such as pictures posted in the threads here but I'm told I don't really need a firewall using my router.

 

[72chevy]

I hate AOL and havent used it for a long long time now but I really like the EZ Armor antivirus/anti spam and firewall that Road Runner offers free, no pop ups with IE and no spam in my email.
That's in addition to the virus being removed in my email messages by Road runner before I even receive them.

I do have to turn off the firewall sometimes to be able to see SOME things, such as pictures posted in the threads here but I'm told I don't really need a firewall using my router.

I'm no fan of AOL either. They just put a pretty face on a browser. Their content is less of a value-add then years ago.

I would disagree on the software vs hardware firewall tho. I would still recommend running both. Hardware routers only control what ports are available on the public and private side. Since every router lets the web port 80 available, lots of malware sneaks by the firewall. Software firewalls can monitor what programs are trying to access a specific port. It's not uncommon for a Trojan to slip by the router and then get caught by the software firewall when it tries to talk back from the PC.

Anti virus, Anti spyware, HW and SW firewalls, running, patched, and updated at all times. The zero-day explot is upon us.
The bad guys now how to get past the common safeguards so you cant be too careful.

 

[Matt Smith]

I'm no fan of AOL either. They just put a pretty face on a browser. Their content is less of a value-add then years ago.

I would disagree on the software vs hardware firewall tho. I would still recommend running both. Hardware routers only control what ports are available on the public and private side. Since every router lets the web port 80 available, lots of malware sneaks by the firewall. Software firewalls can monitor what programs are trying to access a specific port. It's not uncommon for a Trojan to slip by the router and then get caught by the software firewall when it tries to talk back from the PC.

Anti virus, Anti spyware, HW and SW firewalls, running, patched, and updated at all times. The zero-day explot is upon us.
The bad guys now how to get past the common safeguards so you cant be too careful.

You got that right

 

[Dean]

That's good to know.

The thing is I have 5 other machines on my home network and only have EZ Armor on this one machine and Norton AV on one other.

 

[72chevy]

That's good to know.

The thing is I have 5 other machines on my home network and only have EZ Armor on this one machine and Norton AV on one other.

A lot of the exploits nowadays are a "blended" threat. The PC clicks a link from a web page or opens a web mail that then downloads the nasty within the http stream. Sometimes the nasty is a tiny zombie client that just waits for instructions to go active and participate in a bot network. Worms hide in all forms of malware. Some nasties are even coded into "free" anti-nasty scan tools.

One compromised machine can infect the rest once inside the private side of your network. That's how large corporate networks were shutdown. It's called the "weak sister" attack in the black hat community.

MS included the XPsp2 software firewall to help the corporate world contain the spread of infections once inside their private networks.

Whoops, thread creep.
Ahem... AOL sucks.

 

[66BBCONV]

OK, I picked up a Linksys Router which comes with Norton Internet Security. What else should I get before I connect up the road runner to my router? Understand I barely know what I am doing here.

 

[72chevy]

Just plug the cable modem into the internet port of the router. PCs Ethernet plugs into the LAN switch ports of the router. The router probably has a default IP address. Fallow the manual and it should be easy.
Change the default passwords of the router.

Lots of good info here....
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/howto/

You cant be too anal about security. Run Norton's product and Windows XP's firewall too if it will let you.

Some free tools...
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

 

[66BBCONV]

Thanks for the info. You don't know how grateful I am.

One last question. Should I set up my router now or wait until next week, when I get Road runner?

I am hooked up to a phone hard line at this time. I looked at the set up disc that came with my router and the first thing it wanted me to do was to disconnect my modem, ( which I took to mean phone line connection). I didn't want to to that at this time as I don't get the cable until next week.

I guess I'm wondering if I can go through the set up for the router at this time and when I am done, hook my phone line back up without messing up the router set up.

Setting the router up now would be the better way for me to go as I don't really want to wait until next week and have the cable guy standing over me waiting for me to get it up and running.

So, can I set up my router now and then hook up my phone hard line when I am done, or wait until I have the cable ready to hook up?

Thanks Bill

 

[72chevy]

I wouldn't worry about looking bad to the cable guy. They have seen it all before.

The modem Linksys refers to is the cable modem not your dialup phone
modem.

Usually these setups are Wizard driven step-by-step. I would think you could re-run the wizard over and over to change something. Most wizards are just a hand holding setup and all settings are changeable from a web interface later. I wish I could be more specific about the Linksys router but I use a lot of Netgear brand stuff.

Look for the documentation either on a paper foldout or the CD. If you get locked out, most gear will let you reset it to factory defaults with a certain procedure.

The instructions should document the wizard steps and explain what each is for.

Basically your telling the router what the service providers IP numbers are.
Where the router should look for Domain Name Service for address resolution. And it's default route to get there. The cable guy will provide all that information.

To setup your private side of the network router will try to setup it's DHCP service. This Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol defines what IP numbers to give out to PCs on you home network.

If you stick with AOL you ll need to change it so it knows you will now use an always-on broadband connection and then it will stop dialing the modem. AOL's software may be smart enough to figure it out on it's own.

 

[Finally]

I used Road Runner with a router, now Comcast. I would let the cable guy set up the modem and cable system then put the router in place later. Then you know there are no issues with cable system or modem. With most cable systems you can run DHCP on both sides of router which makes the setup pretty simple.

Make sure you power down the modem before installing the router. Most don't lock to a MAC address anymore so it shouldn't be a problem but just better to start everything from a powerup.