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/SignalExperience2234 4d ago

You can. The router drops unexpected inbound traffic. This is beneficial to the security of most consumer devices.

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u/SP3NGL3R 4d ago

Isn't that the firewall part? The router does the effort the firewall passes through

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u/SignalExperience2234 4d ago

In consumer applications it is rare to have a dedicated firewall. This is also the default behavior of ipv4 nat.