h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We finally got a wireless router last night, and I set it up today. It has a built-in firewall, so I was wondering if I still need Zone Alarm on the laptops? When I restart mine, Zone alarm tries to initialize multiple times, instead of just the once. I don't know if it finally succeeds, because I cancelled the initialization since I needed to get online to do some at-home test scoring. Both laptops also have the latest AVG free version. My laptop has XP, and Tom's has Vista. The router's a Linksys, with wireless G (I'm upstairs, and the box and router are downstairs. I can get the model number later, if it's really important.)

>> I was wondering if I still need Zone Alarm on the laptops?<<

Probably not.

However, if you're concerned about unauthorized access to your router, make sure to use a good admin password, good encryption, (Not WEP. Use WPA at minimum) and turn off SSID broadcast. You may also want to turn off wireless admin access, turn on MAC filtering so only your laptops are allowed, etc..

I use Linksys WRT54GL routers, with custom firmware, but even the stock firmware in your router should be adequate, as long as you set it up correctly.

Visit Portforward for help setting it up -- http://portforward.com/

To test the router's firewall, navigate to GRC -- https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Using Zone Alarm in addition to the router's built-in firewall likely won't work.

Consider also using Clamwin anti-virus, in addition to or to replace AVG

Hope that helps

Augh. Wrong linky..

Brief explanation of how to set up a Linksys router -- http://www.tech-faq.com/setup-linksys-router.shtml

Aaaand remove that 's' from the GRC link -- http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Thanks Tal--nice to hear that my logic was correct. I may actually be learning something about this stuff after all So I'll clear up some space on the machines, and just keep the setup files in case we go on a trip and want to use hot spots so I can quickly get covered with a firewall again

While we're talking routers...any ideas why my son's Nintendo DS won't connect to our wi-fi?

Is your router WEP - DS is WEP only out of the box. Until later...
BCNU - Crescent

That could be it. Or maybe it doesn't support 802.11b. If either of those, I guess the solution is either a new router or a DS dongle, whichever's cheaper.

Ooh! The dongles are quite inexpensive. £15 Amazon.