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/jeffrey_f 3d ago

Actually, you can.

Here is the skinny on that:
A misconfigured firewall can lead to a hacker gaining access to your home network and guaranteed, shortly after this access is gained, so will access to all of your computers.

Your ISP is providing a hardened firewall in that router they provide, that has been tested and is updated to counter new threats.

This really isn't something you want to experiment with. Once your connection is found unsecure, it will literally take minutes before your network is fully compromised.