Hi!
In my home I have small wireless network (54g) with 2 workstations and one notebook. I use USR9106 to manage everything ( it is a router, 4 port switch, firewall,wireless access point and adsl modem in one). So I have some questions:

1.I use hardware firewall build in my USR9106. Is it a good idea to use some personal firewall solution, like build in XP SP2 firewall, Zone Alarm or Sygate?
I'm not looking for recomendation of personal firewall. I want to know if there can be any problems with using hardware + software firewall solution.

2.One of my PC is always on. I share music, documents and other things to other users in my home lan. I want be able to control it via internet when I'm out. I use DSL connection with dynamic IP so I need static IP. I read about DynDNS.org and No-IP.com. So here is my question:

Do you have experience with DynDNS or No-IP services. What do you recommend me to choose. Do you have or do you know about problems with them?

3.I would like to run mail server, ftp server and simple WWW site. Do you have some advices/ links how to set up it step by step? Some software recommendations would be great!

My PC specification for "server":
Windows XP SP2
Intel Pentium IV 2,6 HyperThreading
512MB DDR
HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Serial ATA 160GB + 160GB or 200GB in the way
I'm thinking about RAID 0 in near future so it should be fast enough...

Thanks for advices!!!

Using a 'software' (probably application based) firewall + a NAT router is no problem. Remember that NAT will only block incoming connections by default, so the extra control over applications/outgoing connections might give you a bit more security.
Personally I hate all kinds of software firewalls and think they are completely useless if you have the slightest capability to think (don't use IE, install security patches etc.) and are behind a NAT router.


I'm using DynDNS.org and have never had any problems with it. Does exactly what it is supposed to, very reliable and supported by most hard/software.

Do you have some recommendations about software to use with this service? ( I mean software which will keep your IP constant ).
It would be great if this software:
- works as a service
- is freeware/ open source
- and of course works under Windows XP

Thanks for your time!

If you're lucky, your router might even support this service, so you don't need any software at all. For example, my Linksys WAG54G supports it.

Search your manual or web interface for any mention of "Dynamic DNS" or "DDNS".

I'm currently using DeeEnEs, which is a minimal but functional DynDNS client.
If you want something that runs as a service rather than in your tray, take a look at DirectUpdate.

Hmm.... There is something like this in my router. I will have to look into it when I go home.

Thanks for tips dev0! I will have a look on it today evening.

BTW let me know if you have some recommendations about ftp and mail server software.

I hae found the XP firewall to end up disallowing some of the things I wanted to do, like bittorrrent (external) or my Rio Reciever (diskless, so it depends on nfs mounted partition on my PC)... so I don't run a software firewall except on my work computer because they require it.

I don't know your router model, but on mine (linksys) there is a lot of firewall setup you can do beyond the basic NAT hiding. You can block all services that you don't want leaking outside your LAN. FIrst should be windows file sharing..