Reply #8: Yes, you'll need a firewall [View All]

I use a hardware firewall, but you can certainly get by with a software version that installs on your PC or Mac or whatever.

And if you're connecting multiple computers, depending on the policies of your ISP, you may need a hardware firewall or some device to perform NAT (Network Address Translation). For example, my ISP will only allow one computer at a time to be connected to the network. If my wife wanted to be on the Internet with her PC, she'd have to click a little checkbox and reboot her computer. Dumb, dumb policy. The solution? Make the firewall the one "computer". The ISP sees it as the only device connected, since one of its basic functions is to hide everything connected behind it (my wife's PC and mine). This is the aforementioned NAT in action. Many ISP-provided dsl "modems" perform the NAT on their own, by the way.

Also, if you're curious, you'll want to check your download and upload speeds to see what you're really getting. Good speed tests can be found at www.dslreports.com. Click on the Tools buttton on the left and run the test.

You'll need a low-pass filter installed. This is something you shouldn't have to worry about, but sometimes you do anyway. It's something that's usually connected at the NID (the little gray plastic box outside your house). If not installed, you'll hear annoying and debilitating clicks on your telephone conversations, and you might think Ashcroft is listening in (of course, he may be :) ). Anyway, the only reason I mention this is because a few ISP's use in-line low-pass filters at each phone jack instead of at the NID. If yours does this, and if you ever wire another phone line, you'll need one for that new phone line.

Last item: watch out for those bastards at the RIAA.

Enjoy it!