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Originally Posted by bertJ
Everybody - Thanks for all your help. Everything is working OK today; I've left the firewall switched off - so far, so good. A minor point; is it OK to leave the modem and the router switched on all the time - they seem to get quite hot, also the relevant transformer plugs?
Cheers
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Yep, mine have been on almost constantly since they were installed 8 months ago (only been turned off when I re-route cables or during power cuts)
Although the router is protecting you from the "outside world" it's worth getting a software firewall that won't cause problems as well.
It sounds like your firewall was blocking some sort of requests from the modem/router (possibly the DHCP request/acknowledgement) - it
is possible to properly configure a firewall so it will allow these requests to pass, the trick is doing that while still keeping the system secure.
I wouldn't waste any more time with the XP firewall though - it only protects from inbound traffic (and your router does that for you anyway), you need a
proper software firewalll that can be correctly configured and which will stop anything nasty from creating an
outbound connection without your knowledge.