I don't know if this is of any relevance since I ain't got a clue wht you guys are on about but...

When I first got Broadband, Fresserve sent me this green thing, which apparently was my broadband modem Plug from phone socket on wall the modem, then modem connected to PC via a USB cable.

When we got a new PC and I decided I wanted to share the net connection, I bought one of these;



Safecom 4port router modem - £40 off ebuyer.com

New PC had a 10/100 LAN port built in, so cat 5 cable connected that up to port one, then ran a cat 5 patch cable upstairs to old PC (installed a 10/100 LAN PCI card in it and plugged in)

All I did to connect to the net was go into the router settings, and input my internet account details (actually I didn't, my mate did as I am crap with this stuff ) Then each PC automatically found the net connection and has been fine ever since (bar a couple of times when I have had to reboot the router, other than that it has been spot on - never had to "sign in" like I used to do, all works lovely