| Frank,
The hardware firewall will block everything coming from the internet by default. Stopping people coming in, but not you going out (it's a bit like barring all incoming calls). This is usually the default state for Netgear kit.
So, if you don't need to allow anyone from the internet access to your PC / Laptop etc, then you don't need to change a thing, and this is pretty much the usual state of affairs for a home user. | 
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