Firewalls in home routers/modems are more troublesome for the average person than what there worth.
Here at home I have never experienced any problems from outside intruders, etc...because my desktop firewall & antivirus protects my computer and filters out unwanted things and for me it has given me more leverage then my routers firewall.
Hi, I just registered to answer this..
While you might not have ever had problems lowering the router firewall security is not relevant to the means of actual security. Software firewalls fail miserably still to this day and especially in any Windows OS. The firewall in a router is ALWAYS better, the fact that you find it cumbersome is no reason to start going and suggesting to just about anyone about doing this. Might as well learn a bit of how it works because this is important matters. We are talking about personal information security, not just some inoffensive viruses.
I like your informative posts Funky so please don't take this in the wrong way, I'm no flame-war starter here, people could get problems doing so. Besides, why spend money on firewall software? Instead buy a GOOD router, not Linksys or DLink crap that constantly overheat and get real hardware; ex. Mikrotik (51$ CAD Shipped), Ubiquity Edge Router...
And worst of it all, there are VOIP scanner out there, so without proper security people could get their conversations listen to over the internet... extreme yes, but it is the reality of the world we live in.
Because imagine for a second, the firewall you have in your computer is NOT protecting in any way the ATA device, it's external so you MUST have a proper firewall to support it and it needs to be configured adequately otherwise just about anyone could listen in!
My point is, it is for the best for anyone to learn how to secure their network, at least the basics, and while I do get it that most people won't take the time required to invest a bit in learning I feel that people coming here are trying to learn and understand otherwise they probably would have a different service provider, so it might be wise to inform correctly while you are in a position to do so. Instead of denying what the person before me tried to tell you, you should not take the matter of security lightly.
No offense intended, I know you are doing this to help people on your spare time, it is much appreciated! Again, this is written with good intentions, please take it accordingly.
