how to configure firewall?

[jvaska]

i'm pretty confused by how to setup the firewall in panther. yes, i know i just need to turn it on, but what options should i have selected?

i'm using an ethernet/adsl modem and i don't play things like games online...however, i do from time to time turn on hotwire (a peer to peer thing) to share files with some clients...

i don't get what they mean by "Allow" in the firewall config panel...should i have these things checked or not?

thanks much...v

[OutThere]

'Allow' means that the firewall will allow traffic to pass through that port. You should only leave open the ports which you will transmit traffic through, which would be with 'Hotwire' (are you sure it's not Hotline?). You need to find out the port(s) that Hotwire uses and just "Allow" those. This way hackers and other folks won't have open acess to your computer.

[rainman::|:|]

Yep, find the ports and enable them for whatever software you use. Many apps, like Yahoo Messenger, have a Firewall setting, where they will connect over the HTTP port (the one you use to surf webpages). That's port 80. If the app doesn't have a setting like that, you'll need to open the port. Or, turn your firewall off every time you want to use the program, but that's not a terribly good solution.

paul

[jvaska]

thanks, i think i understand this now. a strange thing...when i launched ichat it says it won't work because of the firewall...then i waited a few secs and voila...it worked...i'll take it...

and yes, hotline...not hotwire...i was a little tired from christmas eve fun...heh...

:)

[Westside guy]

You do NOT need to open ports in your firewall for outgoing applications. For instance, if you are using ssh to connect to a remote server, you don't need to leave port 22 open. If you are Web browsing, you don't need to leave port 80 and 443 open.

The only ports you need to leave open are those for INCOMING services you are providing. So for Hotline you'd have to open whatever port(s) that application uses - I'm assuming that's a peer-to-peer filesharing app along the lines of Kazaa.

Basically most users can turn on the firewall and not worry about opening any ports up. Things will still work. The only port I've got open is 22 (ssh), because I've found it useful on occasion to remotely log into this machine.

[jvaska]

thanks, it's clear...

i'll note that hotline is a peer to peer sharing thing, HOWEVER, i've got way more control over how knows it's there...i share it with two people only...kazaa couldn't find it in it's dreams...v