Share Broadband

A hub won't do it for you. Unless your cable broadband provider is setup for DHCP and does not limit devices on a particular segment, you will need to establish a local network and gateway.

The USB hub can be used to connect the machines provided they are in close proximity to each other. Pick one (I suggest the P450) as the gateway connected to your cable modem and set it up to share the connection with the others. If you are running a MS OS you won't need to buy any software.

As for ethernet or USB, its a distance issue. You can purchase USB to ethernet external adaptors as an alternative to NIC cards, but the price difference is not significant. A powered USB hub will add some distance for you.

first of all, are you on AOL? if so, you'll need to make sure that you buy the cable modem/router that will work on AOL. not Linksys, the info on their website notwithstanding...
you are going to need to network them together with ethernet, not usb.
my 2 cents: buy some cheap 10MB twisted pair network cards for the two machines without..
ask around if you have computer buddies, I have a whole boxfull of these i wish i could give away...
what for sales at buy.com. I just bought usb to ethernet adapter for $26. you should be able to find twisted pair ethernet network cards for $15 or less..
next, spend the bucks for the cable/modem router. linksys is ok if you don't have AOL. watch for sales at buy.com. even stuff on sale at compusa is probably not going to be as cheap as buying it online...
that and some straight-thru twisted pair ethernet cables is all you need...
if you already have your cable modem, you could just buy a plain router instead of cablemodem/router.
don't get a simple hub as you won't be able to get on internet all at the same time.

If your modem has only a USB connection, your only real option is to install network cards and a switch to connect all your PCs.

Then, enable Internet Connection Sharing on the PC that is connected to the modem.
Ideally, this will be the PC withthe newest version of Windows on it.

The 'best' way if the modem has a CAT5 network connection option, would be to get a Cable Router with a built in switch.
I bought my Linksys router for under $60.

Install a NIC in each PC. ($10 for desktop, $30 for laptops)

Then all you need to do, is setup the router, and enable the clients access.

If you wish to share files or printers, you will need to install the proper networking protocols, and enable file and printer sharing.

Chas

Ive have recently just finished installing a home network to do exactly as you are requiring. Initially i went down the route of using ICS (Internet connection sharing) within windows XP and simply using a network card in each machine and a hub. One machine was then set as the server with its USB modem.

That all worked but it had 2 major disadvantages, 1) the server machine had to be on at all times the internet was going to be used and 2) the server machine ground to a halt if the internet had been hammered by another machine (each movie downloading) for about 5-6 hrs.

The best solution is to purchase a network card for each machine, cables to connect them and a Residential Gateway. A residential gateway is a hub/router AND modem all in one. It basically acts as a very simple server PC. This gateway can be left on at all times and will make an internet connection whenever you need it for any of your pcs.

The network i made has 4 pcs on, 2 of the laptops, the gateway that i use is a DG814 from Netgear, cost ?100. It works perfectly and was easy to setup.

Hope this helps you

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