Hi Maverick,

Yes, ZoneAlarm is excellent software, and yes, absolutely anyone with an "always on" connection should use some form of firewall protection. I used to have cable and used BlackICE Defender, which is also excellent, fairly cheap firewall software. I had problems with ZoneAlarm on my machine, but I know many people using it without any problems. If you can afford it, something like the LinkSys router/firewall will provide superior configurable protection.

I have DirecPC satellite now (no cable or DSL available), and it isn't necessary when using their setup as they route all traffic through their system and there's no way for someone to have direct access to your system....which is a real drawback if you want to run a server. Even though I have a fixed IP, I tried to be a server for G2 and the other guys couldn't "see" my machine.

Bill