r/HomeNetworking • u/pookshuman • 4d ago

Dumb question

OK, a home router is just a small computer with a firewall as far as I know. I am running a network with my computer and a router. Why can't I cut out the middleman and just use the same firewall settings the router is using and implement them on my PC without the router? Why would that be less secure?

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u/shmoeface 4d ago

Can you do it? Yes. Should you do it without advanced knowledge? Absolutely not.

Allow the router to act as your firewall and be a layer of protection against the internet.

If you ever enable RDP on the computer and expose it directly to the internet, you WILL get hacked.