Thanks for the response.

You make many excellent points about asking for higher-level support when calling in, though many don't do this.

I also agree that advanced users often don't need anti-virus software. But of course most users aren't even competant, never mind advanced. Many of the personal firewall programs are either straight out bad or too complex for regular users to configure and use properly. And I also understand that when used improperly these programs can either cause communication problems or lead clueless users to think that they have a connection problem.

All that said, I still think that shutting off a firewall needs to be the last step in a support situation. Many users install stuff they know nothing about that hoses their computer. In this situation it's pretty much a given that this person's PC is probably loaded with spyware or worse trojans that will attack and infect other computers on the internet. The only thing keeping these things from attacking others is that poorly configured piece of garbage personal firewall. In this situation I think the doctor saying of "first do no harm" should apply.

A lot of ISPs have started offering different types of programs to their subscribers to make things more attractive such as pop-up blockers and other tools. A potential solution is for ISPs to offer a firewall to their subscribers (either as part of the subscription or an upgrade price). This firewall can be pre-configured and the support personnel will know it well enough to probably deal with most problems.

One last thing. If there was one thing I could go back and change about the column, I would make it clear that all of the original issues I mentioned were from large telecom and cable ISPs, and also state that this is an opportunity for smaller ISPs who typically provide much better support then the big guys.