Network and firewall

[Boncuk]

Hi all,

this is the setup: two PCs (identical mainboards) connected via Realtek network PCI (home or small office) using windows xp home edition.

Both PCs are supposed to share a wireless internet modem connected to my PC.

AVG antivirus is installed on my PC till now.

As long as the firewall is deactivated the network connection is stable. With an activated firewall the network connection breaks down.

That fact is not acceptable just to allow my stepdaughter internet access while I'm working at my PC sacrificing internet security on my PC.

Did anybody have the same problem and how can it be solved?

Regards

Boncuk

 

[HiTech]

Hi all,

this is the setup: two PCs (identical mainboards) connected via Realtek network PCI (home or small office) using windows xp home edition.

Both PCs are supposed to share a wireless internet modem connected to my PC.

AVG antivirus is installed on my PC till now. What do you mean "till now" .... AVG has no bearing on firewall issues.

As long as the firewall is deactivated the network connection is stable. With an activated firewall the network connection breaks down. Are you using Win XP firewall? Or are you using something in addition as well ? Example: nVidia mobo drivers include "Forceware" which is a customizable firewall. You can also run both firewalls simultaneously. Even some modems have firmware that provides a firewall and allows for user settings.

That fact is not acceptable just to allow my stepdaughter internet access while I'm working at my PC sacrificing internet security on my PC.

Did anybody have the same problem and how can it be solved?

Regards

Boncuk

Seems to me that you need to check into network and firewall settings further.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi HiTech,

saying AVG antivirus is installed on my PC till now, I wanted to express that I also will install it on my stepdaughter's PC if the network issue is solved.

I'm using the AVG firewall, and I don't know the effect when disabling the AVG firewall and enable windows xp firewall instead.

Regards

Hans

 

[HiTech]

I didn't realize you were using AVG firewall.... can you uninstall it and see how things behave? Or perhaps disable it at the least?

 

[Reloadron]

Hi Hans

You should be able to enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) from the AVG setup wizzard. I assume you already ran ICS in windows as covered here.

However, I don't quite understand your configuration. Generally you would connect a wireless router to your ISPs modem and then configure both machines to connect via the router.

There is a beauty to having the router (wired or wireless) connected directly to the modem in that it makes for a nice hardware firewall. I used AVG for years but now just use the native Windows firewall and use Windows Security Essentials as an anti-virus.

Ron

 

[bryan1]

Hi Hans,
All I did for net sharing is use a wrt54gl linksys wifi router and it's been working great for ages, I now have a billion 7404 3G/ADSL2 router with VOIP builtin and the hardware firewall is one of the best around. Currently I need to have the sat router and the wrt54 running which although not much both still waste power. With this new router no puter will need to be on for the voip to work and aslong as there is a signal coming in from the 3G then the voip will work otherwise the landline will be used. I have been told letting winblows do the connection sharing is paramount to losing your bandwith as the winblows updates will hog the connection.

Cheers Bryan

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I have been told letting winblows do the connection sharing is paramount to losing your bandwith as the winblows updates will hog the connection.

Don't believe all you hear!

An occasional download every few weeks/months, which you can either disable entirely, or set to prompt you before downloading - and even then it doesn't 'hog your connection'.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi Hans

You should be able to enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) from the AVG setup wizzard. I assume you already ran ICS in windows as covered here.

However, I don't quite understand your configuration. Generally you would connect a wireless router to your ISPs modem and then configure both machines to connect via the router.

There is a beauty to having the router (wired or wireless) connected directly to the modem in that it makes for a nice hardware firewall. I used AVG for years but now just use the native Windows firewall and use Windows Security Essentials as an anti-virus.

Ron

Hi Ron,

I'll check the AVG setup and see what will change. I've now activated the windows xp firewall, but I'm not sure if it provides enough internet security.

The modem I'm using is a wireless modem (CDMA - C-motech), connected to a 14 element long yagi antenna and to the USB-port.

I do neither use a wired nor a wireless router. The network should route the modem to my stepdaughter's PC which it does if the AVG firewall is disabled.

Here is an image what the user's panel looks like.

Regards

Hans

 

[Boncuk]

Don't believe all you hear!

An occasional download every few weeks/months, which you can either disable entirely, or set to prompt you before downloading - and even then it doesn't 'hog your connection'.

Hi Nigel,

I don't call it an occasional download if my dear stepdaughter downloads tons of Thai "larifari-music" daily.

Regards

Hans

 

[3v0]

...

There is a beauty to having the router (wired or wireless) connected directly to the modem in that it makes for a nice hardware firewall. I used AVG for years but now just use the native Windows firewall and use Windows Security Essentials as an anti-virus.

Ron

I have been running a smoothwall router/firewall on a PC connected to the modem. On my windows PC I have been using zoneAlarm but I do not recall that if ever caught anything.

So based on what Ron said I switched from ZoneAlarm to the windows native firewall. Streaming audio now works like it should.

3v0