is having software firewall worth it?

i have nat on from my router... is this enough? i am really adamant on getting software firewall such as NIS, since i do a lot of internet related activities such as games/downloading. From what i've heard, hardware firewall is much better than software, is this true?

yes it is true the hardware firewall performs better then a software one and doesnt use your system, resources to do it

Software is fine for home users in most instances. But you will never see a bigger company using just a software firewall, usually they spend a little more and get a great harware firewall like a PIX or equivalent. Your router should be able to do a basic firewall or such, it depends on the brand I guess.

For my money, it's hardware firewall and ZoneAlarm, AdAware with Symantec AV on the desktop. They're all part of the solution; Firewall takes care of hacks, ZA takes care of trojans, SAV takes care of viri, and AdAware SE takes care of spyware.

Sheesh. Reading that over I start to sound paranoid. But in any case I wouldn't rely on just one thing to do it all.

but if i get something like norton firewall, it will give me bunch of unwarranted internet slow downs and other internet related problems