I have recently downloaded the firefox browser, and I.M.H.O. it excels I.E by leaps and bounds with the tabbed browsing and the interface static search engines etc. However, I have had to change my firewall settings, as the client seems to communicate with the internet through any port it sees fit!? and each time it connects, it uses a different ephemeral port....?! By merely monitoring the range between which ports it uses, I have changed my firewall (Mcafee) settings to allow it to communicate between ports 1024-1200, as this seems the only way to prevent my firewall from churning out an alert window each time I open the browser. This however, only controls it to an extent as I have witnessed the browser trying to communicate through port numbers as high as number 1400 in the last few days. I am unsure if this a security feature of the browser, or whether I am compromising the security of my P.C by allowing this to happen. Should I just extend the range of port numbers that the client can communicate through to prevent the annoying firewall alerts, or can I change the preferences within the browser settings to control the range of communication?
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated,
Thankyou all,
Lee.