A hardware firewall is a network device (it can even be a dedicated computer with special software loaded) that controls network traffic entering and exiting your network. It allows only network traffic that you authorize to enter from the public internet and to reach computers in your home (this assumes that you have set the firewall up right at the point where your internet connect, such as a cable modem, DSL modem, etc., enters your house. This is precisely where you should have your firewall located for most installations).

A hardware firewall is smart enough to allow network traffic from the internet back to your computer if your computer was the one that opened up the connection to the public internet in the first place. For example, a web server on the public internet is allowed to send your computer information through your firewall (if you have one) because you started the conversation by connecting to the web server first.

One advantage of a hardware firewall over a software firewall is that if the hardware firewall “fails” for some reason (hardware failure, power outage, onboard software failure, etc.), the failure results in computer on the public internet still not being able to access your computer. With a software firewall this is often not the case.

Today firewalls are such common place that they are typically built into routers or even cable modems or DSL modems. That is, if you have a router or a cable modem you may already have a firewall! This is a good thing.

The Paladin considers a hardware firewall to be REQUIRED EQUIPMENT for a home network that is not using a dial-up internet connection.

You should check with whomever provided your internet connection if you have any doubts as to whether or not you have a hardware firewall installed.

If you find yourself in need of a device that includes a hardware firewall, the Paladin has compiled a set of links where you can acquire a top-quality brand hardware firewall from a trusted reseller. In general, these devices are pretty much “take them out of the box, plug them in between your cable mode/dsl modem/etc and your computer, and you are pretty much set to go.” But DO read the manual as most of them have a default configuration password that you will want to change as soon as you set up the firewall.

Routers with Firewalls (some support wireless networking, some do not)