the main question is whether the cable modem has an ethernet port?   if it does connect that to the wan port on your router (with cat5e patch cabling).

then, buy an ethernet card (<$10 for a desktop) and connect the desktop to a lan port on the router.

I don't think there are USB routers out there and if your cable modem is USB only you will probably need to buy a new one (as well as an ethernet card for the computer).

Why did you need the router again?  The scanner and printer definitely wouldn't use it.  The XBox could, I suppose...?

Chris,

I know it seems confusing when all the pieces of equipment you mentioned use that thin port (USB) on your computer, including your cable modem. See if this helps:

To connect more USB devices to your computer than you have USB ports for, get a USB hub. They're fairly inexpensive, but get one with it's own power supply. Some USB devices draw their power needs directly from the USB port itself and can tax the powersupply in your system (especially when you start adding webcams and gobs of other stuff). A USB hub is a small box that provides extra USB device ports (for example: for printers, scanners, etc.,.) and a main port that connects to your computers USB port. This lets you add more USB devices without having to open up your computer and add another USB card (you'll run out of slots long before you'll run out of possible devices). You can have upto 127 USB devices connected to your computer at any given time. You can even connect a USB hub to another USB hub, then connect that hub to your computer.

A router, is a device that just routes stuff back and forth between different computers. It can be used to route the requests from many computers to a single internet connection (ie a modem), or allow the connection of one computer to another in a LAN (local area network).


Here's a brief synopsis:

When you connect to the internet, the networks that provide that service, need to know who your computer uniquely is. That way when you send a request for a webpage, for example, they know exactly who to send it back to. This is referred to as your computer's IP address. IP stands for Internet Protocol. It's a unique address assigned to your computer, like a phone number or street address is to your home. It's assigned by your ISP whether static or dynamic.

If your using DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol), your cable/modem would get's it's IP address from your ISP, then your computer would get it's IP address from your modem. It's dynamic and assigned as needed. Sometimes changing on every reboot or when the IP address is assigned to expire. DHCP was implemented to assist in configuring large networks of computers without having to type all that stuff in each and every computer.


So to connect one computer to the internet we could:

ISP {----- [phone line/cable] -----} MODEM {-----} COMPUTER.


Now, let's say that you want another computer to access the internet (same line whether dialup or dsl/cable modem). You have two options at this point. You can either use "Internet sharing" - setting one computer up as a PROXY, or use a ROUTER. Lets look at a PROXY:

ISP {----- [phone line/cable] -----} MODEM {-----} COMPUTER (one) {-----} COMPUTER (two).

In this example, the internet requests (webpages) for computer (two) are sent to computer (one). Computer (one) sends the request to the ISP for computer (two) - it's proxied. Now when the ISP responds back, computer (one) will send computer (two's) data directly to it. It knows where it goes since both computers have a unique IP address and computer (one) is setup to respond for computer (two). Computer (two) just has to go through computer (one) to get to the internet.


Now if you use a ROUTER, the router is basically a PROXY, but with more stuff. The model might look like this:

ISP {----- [phone line/cable] -----} MODEM {-----} ROUTER {-----} COMPUTER

It would be the routers job to accept requests from the different computers connected to it, then translate that to a single IP address for the modem (the modem thinks there just one computer back there). Then, when it gets a response back from the ISP, it makes sure that the retuning data is sent to the correct (requesting) computer. The router keeps a table of who requested what in it's internal memory, that's how it knows where the data is to go. The router is basically a small computer running a specific program for a specific task.

If your using DHCP for your network, the ISP would assign a unique IP address to your modem, your modem would assign a unique IP address to your router, then your router would assign a unique IP address to each and every computer connected to it, whether directly via eithernet or wirelessly.

{-----, -----}, {-----} .... represents data paths.


I hope that gets you started. There's many more features of a router that makes them extremely useful like NAT and firewalls.

Remember, a HUB is basically a 'passive' device (data just goes through it) and a router is an 'active' device (it actively looks at, encapsulates (in different protocols), and can ingore incoming data (among many other things).

Mike.

PS: Sorry for the long post, but there's alot to cover ... :)

Message Edited by Midnight Star on 09-11-2004 09:36 PM

again though, if your modem only has a USB connection on it, you probably won't be able to use it with your router -- even if you did purchase an ethernet card...

Thanks for all the info. What would I need to do in order to use XBox Live or PS2 Online games?

 

Chris

For the PS2, there's a wireless/b solution. It's a box for around $100 that connects into the NetworkAdapter.This device will pass data to and from the wireless router.

For the XBOX live, there should be a simular solution.

You may have set your wireless router, especially for the PS2 , to use either DMZ for a specific (static) IP Address, or to open up specific ports (port forwarding - turns and 'active' ports, pretty much into a 'passive' ports) for that same IP Address. Then, when you configure the wireless on your PS2, just specify the IP Address used for DMZ/ port forwarding.

The wireless/b protocol should do the rest. I haven't seen the setup software for the PS2, so i'm not quite sure if it will allow any type of wireless data encryption, but you still might be able to supress the SSID and use MAC filtering to provide your wireless network some security.

Mike.

Any wireless to ethernet bridge will work fine if the Xbox is in a different room (and if you have a wireless router) ...  if it's in the same room as the router you need only connect the two via cat5 ethernet cabling.

But back to the point at hand, you need to tell me if your cable modem has an ethernet port -- if it doesn't you're probably going to need to throw down a lot of money on a new modem

Basic NIC (ethernet) cards are usually inexpensive. Did you get your cable modem from your internet provider? Was it part of the original package? (Mine was free with 1 year signup). If so, you might want to contact your provider and see if they'll swap you out with an ethernet modem. You'll need to set your "Network Connection" up a little differently, but ethernet will allow you more connectivity options in the long run.

The rest will fall into place.

Mike.

 

My son uses his PS-2 through an SMC router on Charter Broadband without opening any ports.  Not sure he has used the X-Box through it yet, so I cannot address the need to open ports for that.

Charter modems have ethernet connections for the WAN port.

D-Link routers have a "gaming mode" that is supposed to help with x-box like systems as well.  Their techs have been very unhelping in explaining how that mode works or what it does -- suffice to say it seems to automatically open whatever ports a gaming machine tries to use.