Decent reliable and capable Firewall...

Originally Posted by Arainach

No Software Firewall can ever replace a Hardware Firewall.

Indeed that is true, but I haven't found an external firewall device that can do application control on an o/s; which is the main reason why I also have an internal software firewall.

I'd recommend Kerio. It's small, uses just the right amount of system resources to run, and it's effective. Give it a shot.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Arainach

just so long as you encrypt the traffic with WPA (if it's wireless) and change the default admin username/password.

I fully concur with Arainach statement. WPA is far more effective in securing your network then WEP, which, although it uses a good cipher, it wasn't constructed by security experts, but by engineers.

If you want, you can listen to a podcast that will give you more information about WEP and the recommend WPA for securing wireless networks. Download episode 11 & 13. That should bring you up to speed.

Originally Posted by Arainach

I dropped it because it was an insane resource hog on my system

Wow. That's the first time I've heard such a claim. Kerio, by design, is not meant to be a resource hog. What do you think caused it?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Cetra

Any piece of software that is designed to monitor and update your port status in real-time is going to be a resource hog. It is the very nature of software firewall programs and one of the main reasons hardware firewalls exist.

Indeed.

Originally Posted by T1249NTSCJ

Kerio sounds like a keeper but as it turns out it has a limited 30-day trial.

That's true, but that's just to keep all the advance features. After the 30 day trial, it switches over to basic, which in itself is very secure. It still does application control; you just don't get all the nice web filtering technology.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.