Hosts Vs Ip Blocklist

[webfact]

Well I am always wondering what is the better way to block unwanted web sites and pests.

Firewalls offer Hosts and IP blocking.

I am aware what HOSTS and IP block do.

My question is "do I need both concurrently running in a firewall?"

From my point of view and experiences I tend to use IP blocking.

What have the firewall Gurus to say about?

Thx for advise

Edited June 4, 2009 by webfact

[OxfordWill]

depends on how the blocking is managed, 3rd party lists, reactive blocking, etc?

[surface]

Well, what if the host changes their IP? Blocking IP's on a large scale is a bad idea - unless you're blocking incoming connections - as you will be chasing the hosts to different IP's (which is a pain and probably impossible to manage on your own) and the IP's you're blocking may be hosting tons of other sites.

[webfact]

depends on how the blocking is managed, 3rd party lists, reactive blocking, etc?

3rd party lists