LAN & WAN Reviews

The Pitch

AlphaShield Hardware Firewall
Summary	Hardware SPI-based firewall that even your mother could install. Cannot open ports or change any firewall settings.
Update	None
Pros	• Plug and go setup • "Stealth" level protection from Internet probes on ports 1 - 65535 • No user adjustments required
Cons	• No user adjustments possible • Expensive compared to more flexible alternatives • Firewall only - no Internet connection sharing

AlphaShield's email review pitch for its product of the same name described it as "the only hardware firewall on the market that doesn't need any configuration. Installation takes only one minute. No maintenance. 100% Unhackable Guarantee or your money back".

It sure sounded like snake oil, but a quick check of AlphaShield's website showed the company to be legit. So I fired back an email to the AlphaShield rep. and a sample appeared at my door about a week later.