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firewall routers use
network address conversion (NAT) to provide a single IP address from the
Internet service between various home computers. When traffic from the Internet
reaches your router, your router doesn't know which computer to send it to, so
it throws the truck away. In effect, NAT acts as a firewall that prevents
incoming requests from reaching your computer. Depending on your router, you
may be able to block certain types of outgoing traffic by changing your router
settings.
It
is possible to forward some traffic to the router by setting up port forwarding
or placing a computer in DMZ (demilitarized zone), where all incoming traffic
is sent and activated. DMZ, of course, forwards all traffic to a particular
computer: the computer will no longer benefit from the router, which acts as a
firewall.