Windows Firewall & Network Protection

[MagikMark]

Hi Philipi!

May I ask your thoughts on Windows Firewall and Network Protection under Windows Defender?

Do we really need to turn this "on" if you're running pfsense in the network? Isn't this redundant? Will it cause conflict with other networking activities such as VPN and file sharing?

Thanks

[Philip]

It will not cause issues. You can always allow a program through the firewall. PFsense will protect you from threats outside of your LAN, but a local software firewall will also protect you from LAN threats. Yes, it is a bit redundant in small networks, however, the performance degradation is negligible with current PCs imho.

[YeOldeStonecat]

PFSense is only acting as a NAT router between your computer and the internet.
The Windows firewall can block public traffic from the wild side if your computer has a public IP, however if you have a NAT router between your network and the internet...you don't have to worry about blocking incoming traffic. however, the Windows firewall can also help prevent malware from spreading across the LAN, such as if there's an infected computer on your network.