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hardware firewall

Colman
Friendly Neighbour

Hello,


I am using Telus fibre to the home service. I am also using the Actiontec modem T3200M at home.

 

I would like to know if there are any recommendations for a good hardware firewall available? I am using Windows 10 Pro version 2004 software firewall and Windows Defender but I am worried it might not be enough to protect my computers at home from hackers.


Thank you very much for your help

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

PCherian
Helpful Neighbour

@Colman 

Your ActionTec modem is a router too ( VDSL2 Wireless AC Gateway Router ), which means it has builtin hardware firewall. You can login to the router part of the ActionTec and play with the firewall settings to make rules stricter or lenient. Router firewalls by default block incoming suspicious connections, but can also be manually configured to block outgoing too). Make sure you fully understand the implications before changing a setting.

 

Even then, I would absolutely also have a software firewall to block and filter processes (primarily for outgoing connections) with more granularity (& ease) and to also get instant notifications, locate the process/file, look it up in internet, turn off or turn on the firewall at will, etc etc.. I use Malwarebytes firewall (free), which is actually a user friendly GUI for Windows built in firewall. Essentially it's the same builtin one, but the interface is more like a traditional third party.

 

Does my Actiontec has firewall: https://actiontecsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000538063-Is-my-Actiontec-DSL-modem-or-Cab...

Copy pasting the answer from their website below:

Yes, the Actiontec DSL modem and Cable/DSL router acts as a firewall. They provide security through "Stateful Packet Inspection" or SPI, which inspects incoming data packets to make sure they correspond to an outgoing request. Unsolicited packets (which could be harmful) are rejected. Through the use of specific firewall settings, the firewall can be configured to block outgoing as well as incoming traffic.

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1 REPLY 1

PCherian
Helpful Neighbour

@Colman 

Your ActionTec modem is a router too ( VDSL2 Wireless AC Gateway Router ), which means it has builtin hardware firewall. You can login to the router part of the ActionTec and play with the firewall settings to make rules stricter or lenient. Router firewalls by default block incoming suspicious connections, but can also be manually configured to block outgoing too). Make sure you fully understand the implications before changing a setting.

 

Even then, I would absolutely also have a software firewall to block and filter processes (primarily for outgoing connections) with more granularity (& ease) and to also get instant notifications, locate the process/file, look it up in internet, turn off or turn on the firewall at will, etc etc.. I use Malwarebytes firewall (free), which is actually a user friendly GUI for Windows built in firewall. Essentially it's the same builtin one, but the interface is more like a traditional third party.

 

Does my Actiontec has firewall: https://actiontecsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000538063-Is-my-Actiontec-DSL-modem-or-Cab...

Copy pasting the answer from their website below:

Yes, the Actiontec DSL modem and Cable/DSL router acts as a firewall. They provide security through "Stateful Packet Inspection" or SPI, which inspects incoming data packets to make sure they correspond to an outgoing request. Unsolicited packets (which could be harmful) are rejected. Through the use of specific firewall settings, the firewall can be configured to block outgoing as well as incoming traffic.