Quote:
Originally posted by GCR
But say, can both computers use the internet at the same time?
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Yup. Shouldn't be a problem at all. If they're both using at the same time, you may notice that bandwidth is sucking, but otherwise, they'll get equal weight for usage unless you set it otherwise.
In all honesty, though, you may be better off picking up a junkpile computer with no disk to operate as your firewall. I got a P90 for 10 bucks at a flea market a year ago. Set up with something like FloppyFW on a RO disk that's ejected during operation. The reason I say this is that I really don't think it's a good idea to use your desktop computer as a firewall. For one, it's the target of any hackers that take a shining to you, and for two, you may accidentally introduce a hole in your security by your regular use.
A firewall is just that: a physical break between your computers and the world. The configuration of a firewall isn't supposed to change, aside from security updates. Ideally, the firewall shouldn't be running any open ports at all, and forwarding only the allowed server ports to a server that's sitting behind the firewall. The firewall should also be accessible by physical link only. No remote access whatsoever.
If you're constantly running programs on your "firewall", you're defeating this purpose. There shouldn't be a problem in the short-term, but if you're looking for a long-term solution, you should really invest in some sort of actual firewall.
