Is a firewall necessary in this setup?
 

Hello all,

I have my linux box sitting behind a router via wireless. The rest of my home network is also connected to this router, which then connects to the internet via the cable modem.

My question is whether it is necessary to setup a firewall in this situation?

I have begun my search on these forums, and I intend to use scripts to configure iptables as opposed to using a GUI. That way, I'll learn a bit more about how things work.

Thanks!

Well, assuming you have the coolest Cisco Access Point and you know very well how to configure it... yes, anyway.
A second-stage-filtering is very good for gaining higher level security and troubleshooting the first-stage-filtering.

Yeah, you can do it. I ran my server behind a cheesy router for about 6 months when I first got started. This gave me enough time to figure out what I was going to use for a firewall script. You should get a firewall script of some kind. Good security is built in layers. Give an attacker many many layers they must overcome before they can get into your box.

Not to mention that every host on a wireless segment should have a firewall, since they're all exposed over the airwaves (in addition to all the stuff that was already said).

So definitely, yes you should have a firewall on the host itself.

I have 3 firewalls on my home lan for them to get through before they can compromise a box.