cable dsl firewall

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Bill Ford
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cable dsl firewall

Post by Bill Ford »

I have recently installed cable dsl,and am using D-link wireless router,and modum. The router is a direct plugin to the desktop with wireless to laptop.(cable to modum,to router,to desktop)

Problem is every time I shut down,and restart the firewall turns itself off, I have zonealarm running on desktop. I go to control panel/net connections/prop/firewall, and reset. What can I do to make the firewall setting stay?

thanks in advance..Bill<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bill Ford on 04 March 2006 at 08:14 AM.]</p></FONT>
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Bill Llewellyn
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Post by Bill Llewellyn »

I'm a tad confused (but that's normal). Image I thought that cable and DSL were two different ways to connect to the net. Either/or, but not both. Can you describe your setup in a little more detail? Thanks.
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Bill Ford
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Post by Bill Ford »

Bill,
I'm the worlds best at confusing folks.I have internet service through G-Force cable Co.(my tv service provider)I mis- described my service,DSL is phoneline,right? Mine is the cable system that goes to the tv.
From what I understand, the cable modum has a built in firewall, my concern is, I have been bitten by a virus that destroyed everything,don't want that again.

Bill
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Bill Bosler
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Post by Bill Bosler »

Bill - Your problem may be two firewalls active at the same time. That makes for some very strange happenings. If the router has a hardware firewall, you should turn off any software firewalls on your computer, especially Windows' firewall.
Here's a site where you can test your firewall security.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bill Bosler on 04 March 2006 at 05:16 PM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bill Bosler on 04 March 2006 at 05:19 PM.]</p></FONT>
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Jack Stoner
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Post by Jack Stoner »

Cable modems do not have a firewall built in. Routers do have some firewall functions because they see the router not the PC. But, you still need a software router such as Zone Alarm, etc. However, if you have Windows XP with SP2 that has a built in firewall and you have another firewall such as Zone Alarm you should turn off the Windows Firewall as it can conflict and cause problems.

But where you are going in the Control Panel sounds like you are accessing the Windows Firewall and if ZA is running the Windows Firewall should be off - and you are confusing the two different firewalls.
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Bill Ford
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Post by Bill Ford »

I have ZA and Etrust antivirus running and now I feel fairly safe about the windows XP firewall being off, I always wait untill everything is up and running before I turn the modum and the router on.

Thanks for the help guys...Bill F.
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Jack Stoner
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Post by Jack Stoner »

Bill, in most cases the cable modem should be on and in sync BEFORE you powr up or startup the PC. I've had several customers (I do part-time PC repair) that ran into problems because they powered off all their equipment including the Cable/DSL modems. When they powered everything up, the PC would start (and at least the Ethernet connection) would be activated berore the modem got in sync and thus when Windows started, they could not get on line because there was an error between the PC and the modem. "Data Set Ready" (DSR) was not on when the PC was started so the Ethernet NIC detected the modem not ready and from that point on would never try the comm link, and The browser and e-mail programs could never access the internet - until the PC was restarted (obviously with the modem powered on and in sync).

The fix, in every case, was to either leave the modem on all the time (the best option) or making sure the modem is powered on and in sync before starting the PC.
erik
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Post by erik »

Sometimes I forget my modem is off. I wait until Windows loads then I use the SBC self-diagnostic tool which establishes the connection.

------------------
-johnson


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Jack Stoner
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Post by Jack Stoner »

erik that doesn't work for all providers. e.g. with RoadRunner cable, there is no "self diagnostic" and if you force the modem to reset and resync a PC will still not connect.
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Bill Ford
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Post by Bill Ford »

Jack,
I have not had that problem, thanks for the "heads up". If that ever happens, maybe I'll remember to power up the modum first.

Thanks...Bill
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Jack Stoner
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Post by Jack Stoner »

Bill if you have an older or "slow" PC that problem may never come up as the modem will be "ready" before the PC is.
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