cable modems

[frankgw@adelphia.net]

Our local cable company has just announced that cable modems will be available within 30 - 60 days. I would like to be able to upgrade my home pcANYWHERE 28.8 connection to cable modem speeds. Has anyone done this? What questions should I be asking? What should I watch out for? Any and all advice is welcome.

[Guest.Visitor]

Recent articles have pointed out that cable modems, DSL, Fiber Optics, and T1 become targets of hackers, because they are "always on". The advice given, was to remember to turn off the computer when not in use. Dave

[maxb@bfcsoftware.com]

You might want to check out the following web-site for a FREE firewall product from ZoneLabs to protect your home computer. Check out http://www.zonelabs.com.

[Guest.Visitor]

Before you 'permanantly' connect pay a visit to http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2. This is a great site where more security information is presented as well as an online check of your ports.

[Guest.Visitor]

Frank, Yes I am using a cable modem at home. Awesome comparison to regular dial-up. Warning: When I currently use PCAnywhere the response time seems not much better (if at all) than dialing up via modem. BUT, using CA/Win95NT via VPN is like I am there -- fantastic response. I also recommend visiting Steve Gibson's website GRC.com and using his Shield's up probing package. Zonelabs received a great writeup in Infoweek, mainly based on Steve's recommendation. Bill

[frankgw@adelphia.net]

"Awesome comparison to regular dial-up" .............plus "like I am there -- fantastic response" --------------------------------------------------------- Bill - Thanks for the encouragement. That's what I'm looking for! Thanks to everyone for documenting their comments.

[Guest.Visitor]

I can't help with the PC Anywhere question, but just a general comment - I recently set up home office broadband cable access and, yes, it is screaming fast. I'll never go back to dialup. The warnings out there about how easily cable makes your PC "hackable" are very true ---- Since I set up my cable modem, my firewall software has blocked no less than 20 hack attempts which included attempts to launch "Backdoor" and "Back Orifice" viruses and other variants. I have seen many attempts from someone on the outside to PING my PC. Many of the attempts have occurred while I was using the machine, so, so much for turning off the PC. The Norton Internet 2000 Firewall has blocked everyone so far - well worth the price. I also recommend that you visit www.grc.com. Excellent free site that will tell you how "open" your PC is to attacks. Good Luck.