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Both devices are vulnerable to attacks from the outside world but the PIX is going to give you more granularity in your firewall configuration were the linksys is somewhat limiting. For a small home network i think either will do fine but if you ever want VPN access or other remote access to your network then go with the PIX. It will allow you to lock down access better. <br />
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From another angle if you are in the IT field most any admin job ask for some PIX/firewall experiance, so knowing how to manage one is a big plus. If you do decide on a PIX then you might want to consider the Cisco ASA. its basically the predecessor to the PIX (which is End of Life in the next month or two).<br />
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Yeah, the experience gained from configuring my own PIX is a big plus for me. We use ASAs at work and while they are awesome security devices, I wouldn't be able to afford one personally.<br />
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Will the PIX allow me to stealth my network like the Linksys does? In other words, will it allow my network to be 100% hidden from the internet? (no replies from any port)
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Keep in mind that PIX experience will decrese in usefulness while ASA will increase. &nbsp;Obviously the ASA firewalls you see on e-bay are almost as expensive as new or more expensive depending. &nbsp;So if you have no enterprise firewall experience and see a cheep PIX 501 (or 506) I would be a good way to get some skills on your resume. &nbsp;<br />
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And the fun thing about either one versus a Linksys is that you can change how it responds to port scans, get better logs on what is going in and out, create egress access lists, do SNMP trending and analysis, and lots of other fun tricks.<br />
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Now just to throw a good wrench into the whole thing, you can also load up OpenWRT on that WRT54G and get a lot of the features that you could get with the PIX, not all of them but you will get the granular access control, egress filtering, SNMP, and good logging. &nbsp;You can even load it up with a web server, mail server, or other fun things: (<a href="http://www.openwrt.org" rel="ugc">www.openwrt.org</a>). &nbsp;But obviously none of the PIX experience.
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Good info! Well, over the last couple of days I've actually started looking at getting an ASA 5505 for my home network. Newegg is selling new ASAs for $360 which is not a whole lot more than a used PIX 501!<br />
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I'll definitely have to check out that openwrt site and see what I can tweak on my Linksys. Thanks!
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Experts!<br />
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I'm relatively new to security although I know how to configure a PIX firewall. I'm currently using a Linksys WRT54G as my wireless router at home. As many of you know, it has a built-in firewall which seems to do a pretty good job of making my network invisible to the internet. When I run a port scan of my home network, the scan doesn't find any open ports and my Linksys firewall doesn't respond to any external requests (which is good). <br />
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My question is, what device will provide me with better security, a Cisco PIX 501 or my Linksys WRT54G router with built-in firewall? It's hard for me to believe that a $40 Linksys router could provide the same level of security as a Cisco PIX. <br />
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I like the idea of getting a PIX so I can learn more about it and practice on it. But I won't get the PIX 501 if it has the same level of security as my Linksys.<br />
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What do you guys think?
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Experts!

I'm relatively new to security although I know how to configure a PIX firewall. I'm currently using a Linksys WRT54G as my wireless router at home. As many of you know, it has a built-in firewall which seems to do a pretty good job of making my network invisible to the internet. When I run a port scan of my home network, the scan doesn't find any open ports and my Linksys firewall doesn't respond to any external requests (which is good). 

My question is, what device will provide me with better security, a Cisco PIX 501 or my Linksys WRT54G router with built-in firewall? It's hard for me to believe that a $40 Linksys router could provide the same level of security as a Cisco PIX. 

I like the idea of getting a PIX so I can learn more about it and practice on it. But I won't get the PIX 501 if it has the same level of security as my Linksys.

What do you guys think?

Which provides better security: PIX 501 or Linksys WRT54G router

Cisco PIX is a dedicated hardware firewall appliance; the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) is a firewall and anti-malware security appliance that provides unified threat management and protection the PIX does not. Other Cisco devices and systems include routers, switches, storage networking, wireless and the software and hardware for PIX Firewall Manager (PFM), PIX Device Manager (PDM) and Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM).

Cisco

A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. The most familiar type of routers are home and small office cable or DSL routers that simply pass data, such as web pages, email, IM, and videos between computers and the Internet. More sophisticated routers, such as enterprise routers, connect large business or ISP networks up to the powerful core routers that forward data at high speed along the optical fiber lines of the Internet backbone. Though routers are typically dedicated hardware devices, use of software-based routers has grown increasingly common.