Your router??™s
firewall, also known as a hardware firewall, is basically a software program in the
router that inspects data coming into your Internet connection. If the firewall software
finds something known as bad data, or even suspected as bad or rather abusive
data, it should stop it cold. Your computers will never even know the bad stuff
is out there.
Step 2: Hide Your Connection
Enabling your firewall is the first part of providing a protective layer to cover your
Internet connection. The next part is to set a feature that keeps casual snoopers from
finding your connection. This feature blocks the basic ping that alerts a snooper that
there is an active connection available to exploit.
Keeping simple pings from finding your connection is usually controlled by a
setting referred to as WAN ping blocking. This setting is easily found on the Belkin
router??™s configuration menu, as shown in Figure 11-2. Enable this setting unless your
ISP, connection provider, or other support tech needs to verify your connection.
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Step 3: Allow Applications Through Your Firewall
Almost everything coming from the Internet is blocked, excluding e-mail and web
content and file downloads you requested to come to your computers. This blocking
can prevent inbound Internet phone calls, viewing your webcam, playing games, and
other common activities we are promised we can enjoy over broadband connections.
Sometimes you want to let Internet traffic onto your network.
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