Why does my Router fail Leak-Test

[beach22ca]

Hi everyone. Thanks for taking the time to read my problem. I wasn't sure where to post it.
Anyways, I have a Belkin 4-port router connected to my WinXp Computer. Being fairly new to the computer scene a friend told me to test my ports and firewall at Steve Gibson's site. The port scan came back with all but one item Stealth. One port came back as Closed.
However, when I run LeakTest it says my firewall has been penetrated.
I was under the impression that a router is a good firewall????
When I went to see how my router was set up at Belkin's site it said my firewall was enabled.
Can someone tell me why the port scan was good and the leaktest failed??
I am so confused.:o
Thanks.

[redwench]

ok, the port scan checks for ports accessible from the outside. the leak test checks for the ability to send out packets from your computer. the second one is really the more important of the 2 nowadays.
to the best of my knowledge routers are not designed to do much to outgoing traffic, only incoming. winxp doesnt manage outbound traffic either. you will have to get a software firewall. there are free ones available online.

[beach22ca]

:) Thanks for the quick reply.
That makes a bit more sense now.
However, I have another question for you then. We used to have ZoneAlarm (the free version) on our computer but we found the computer started freezing alot so we removed it. Is this a common problem?
Are there any problems using a router and a software firewall?
Do you have any recommendations as to a good software firewall?
I feel like I may be asking some simple or stupid questions but I really appreciate the help.
Thanks again.

[redwench]

zonealarm can cause some problems of that sort, but its a decent firewall, even the free one. you might have to do some tweaking, and turn off the xp firewall, which may have been causing the problem.

you can pay a lot of money for a retail one and be worse off. i would suggest you bypass the router firewall altogether if you get a software one. just forward all ports and data and let the software block it. dont get black ice, as it also fails the leak test ;)

[beach22ca]

THANKS for all the help. :) :)