[tjsmaniac]

what is a firewall in a local area network?

[sci]

If you are on the network connections page and you see "local area connection connected/firewalled"It means that the "windows firewall is active.This is no assurance that it protects you as it is Very Very porous!It rarely ever causes a problem and should be left aloneBest to hide your computer behind a router with NAT- this is called a hardware firewall and works best with the least cost(over 5 years) and least chance of causing a problem.Software firewalls cost money(or suck), fail when they get a garbled update and block your access, cost money every year. Did I mention they cost money(or suck)?

[irfan]

firewall helps u to protect unathorized network connection..it help yor pc from blocking some viruses that could harm ur pc..so if u want to protect ur pc,alternative way else than an antivirus program, always make sure ur firewall is enable..best regards..

[Rockmeister]

A firewall is basically a filter that only allows things into your computer that you say are ok.Therefore, it helps to reduce your risk of infection from viruses, spyware, hackers, etc.It can also make you invisible to random searches from the internet that also put you at great risk.I definitely would not be on the internet without one!A good free one is Zone Alarm.I only use the basic one, it works very well, and it's FREE!: )