2 firewalls? help

[pcs are junk]

hi, i know on PCs it is bad to be running an antivirus program's firewall and the windows firewall at the same time, but i was wondering if it was bad if i run the mac's original firewall, along with one i downloaded from apple's website. should i keep both, or will they interfere with each other? thanks!

 

[Tower-Union]

Ah paranoia. . . your new to the Mac aren't you. Ok here's what you do. . .use the built in firewall, and buy a decent Linksys router to act as a hardware firewall. Then your more then covered, even IF something slipped past the router, you'd be sitting pretty with the Mac OS X software firewall.

Now for the love of Pete, don't go downloading any "toolbars" or "video codecs" that ask for your admin password or its all for naught.

 

[pcs are junk]

well, im not really new, i know alot about it ive had it for like 7 months, and i am happy i made the switch. but i downloaded this program on Apple's website called "iAntiVirus", so would this be better or would the macs firewall. oh and i also dont have a router and modem.

 

[shwc]

iantivirus is not a firewall. It is a virus + trojan scanning program. There are no mac viruses and only a couple of trojans. Follow the advice above and you will have little to no need for antivirus programs.

FYI, for finding mac software you may find Version Tracker helpful.

 

[Steve-M]

Ah paranoia. . . your new to the Mac aren't you. Ok here's what you do. . .use the built in firewall, and buy a decent Linksys router to act as a hardware firewall. Then your more then covered, even IF something slipped past the router, you'd be sitting pretty with the Mac OS X software firewall.

Now for the love of Pete, don't go downloading any "toolbars" or "video codecs" that ask for your admin password or its all for naught.

Very good advice A+++

 

[VPrime]

Also check out waterRoof
http://www.hanynet.com/waterroof/index.html

nice addition if you are paranoid

 

[Tower-Union]

i also dont have a router and modem.

Wait, what? How are you online without a modem? I don't mean to be rude, and I'm not trying to make fun of you if you aren't totally up on whats called what (ie calling a tower a CPU), I really am curious how your connecting to the internet.

 

[pcs are junk]

i have a verizon wireless internet card

 

[Tower-Union]

Ohhhhhh, right right. Thanks.

 

[Steve-M]

i have a verizon wireless internet card

If your computer is only connected to the Internet when your using it, the firewall that ships with OS X is more than sufficient. If your computer is connected to the Internet 24/7, then I would recommend investing in a router for the extra protection of the built in firewall. If your interested in a router that will work with your card, look at the Kyocera KR2 Mobile Router.

Back to your original question. You should never run two software firewalls on the same computer at the same time.