A router, of course, is a better
choice because it works even if your PC is off, and includes firewall
protection to boot.
Firewalls, and why you need one
A firewall can be used to restrict unauthorized access to your system by
intruders, close backdoors opened by viruses and other malicious applications,
and eliminate wasted bandwidth by blocking certain types of
network traffic.
A firewall is a layer of protection that permits or denies network communication
based on a predefined set of rules. These rules are typically
based on the TCP port through which the data is sent, the IP address
from which the data originated, and the IP address to which the data is
destined.
The problem is that an improperly configured firewall can cause more
problems than it ends up preventing. Windows includes a rudimentary
firewall feature, described later in this chapter, but software-based firewalls
simply don??™t work as well as hardware firewalls like those found in
routers.
Switches, access points, and routers
A switch allows you to connect more than two computers together??”using
cables??”to form a local network (see Figure 7-1, later in this chapter).
(Note that a hub does pretty much the same thing as a switch, but much
less efficiently.) Without a hub or switch, the best you could do is connect
two computers to each other with a crossover cable (discussed later
in this chapter).
346 | Chapter 7: Networking and Internet
A wireless access point is essentially a switch (or a hub) for a wireless
network, allowing you to connect multiple computers wirelessly.
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