Tech question/cable internet

[Joe Rice]

So I'm going to get cable internet at my new place. The site says all I need is a USB connection.

That doesn't seem right. I don't need a card or anything? Like, they can just hook me up via that USB?

[ocelotrevs]

The pop a modem in the back, and things are done in the modem or something like that.

Then it gets sorted out in the computer.
I've got that.

[Joe Rice]

Like, they hook a modem up outside the CPU via the USB?

[Doug Strange]

Yes, you dummy. Step into the 21st century already.

[west3man]

Like, they hook a modem up outside the CPU via the USB?If you've got a usb port, you're probably fine.

Some folks have more success with a card, but there are machines that are happy with a simple usb plug. Enjoy!


...and don't worry. We'll be here if you need anything.

[Joe Rice]

Wow, cool.

Thanks, guys.

Back on the 20c, we had to have ethernet cards or something like that.

So starting March 25th, I'm going to be able to post REALLY FRICKIN FAST!!!!

[tricksterpup]

If you've got a usb port, you're probably fine.

Some folks have more success with a card, but there are machines that are happy with a simple usb plug. Enjoy!


...and don't worry. We'll be here if you need anything.
funny, I got a modem that I hook up to my router and then to my nic cards. Nothing going to my USB ports at all. Even if I didnt go to my hub, I would still connect via nic card.

[west3man]

funny, I got a modem that I hook up to my router and then to my nic cards. Nothing going to my USB ports at all. Even if I didnt go to my hub, I would still connect via nic card.
There are modems that do either or both.
Mine, in fact, has the ethernet/NIC *and* the usb option. I don't remember why I don't use the usb option. I think I just had a hard time getting it to work, right.

I'm confident others have no problem with it, though. In fact, now that I think about it, I probably don't even *have* any of the same computers I had at the time I first tried the usb option. Hehe. Funny.

I might have to try that, again.


By the way, if you're using a router, that's probably one of the reasons you don't go the usb route (assuming your modem supports usb). I've never seen a router that accepts a usb input from a modem (which isn't to say they don't exist SOMEwhere).

You probably HAD to go the ethernet route to get to the router to send the signal to the computer(s) in your home. I do the same thing, more or less.

[macul]

I had a USB DSL modem a while back. It was awful. Give me an ethernet card any day of the week.

[Tadhg Adams]

Ethernet > USB > Phone line crappy dial up.

So if you don't have a NIC, go ahead and use the USB to connect to your Cable Modem but Ethernet is less hassle.

[west3man]

I had a USB DSL modem a while back. It was awful. Give me an ethernet card any day of the week.
Heh. Well, it definitely wasn't just me, then. lol

(I can just SEE the disgust on your face... even though I dunno what you look like.)

[macul]

Heh. Well, it definitely wasn't just me, then. lol

(I can just SEE the disgust on your face... even though I dunno what you look like.)

My face is currently very contorted. My eyes are flaring red and a small dribble of spit is forming in the bottom of my lip. Well, not really, but yeah...I'm not a fan of USB modems.

[MKTerra]

Yeah, going through USB on my old (ethernet-less) Win98 comp was a pain. It was kind of a tossup whether the thing would work on a given startup. I still have a deep suspicion of USB Plug-and-Play from those days.

[Spike-X]

My broadband modem/router has both Ethernet and USB connections. I used the USB connection on my old Win98 computer with no problems at all until I built my new one, which has an Ethernet connection.

[Brandon Hanvey]

Nicole and I have cable internet at our place.

The way we have it setup is the cable line goes to a modem and then we connected a wire from the modem to a wi-fi router. That way we have internet throughout the house without wires everywhere.

[macul]

I hope you have that thing secure, brandon. It's amazing how many wireless networks you'll pick up in the average apartment/building complex. Even in a residential neighborhood you can pick up signals and surf the net for free!

[The Humanist Hero]

Even in a residential neighborhood you can pick up signals and surf the net for free!
Yep, as I often do when I take my laptop to a friend's house and want to check my email or look up something online.

[Brandon Hanvey]

I hope you have that thing secure, brandon. It's amazing how many wireless networks you'll pick up in the average apartment/building complex. Even in a residential neighborhood you can pick up signals and surf the net for free!

We leave it open. We don't really care if people use it.

Plus we have LAN parties at our place sometimes so we find it easier for our friends to use our signal.

[DonC]

If I can hijack Joe's thread for a minute, I'm also going to get a cable modem soon. My computer already has an Ethernet port; I'm guessing all the geeks here think I should use that?

I know I also need a cable modem (and cable line), but what else, if anything, do I need?

[Tadhg Adams]

Well I'd personally suggest a router inbetween the cable modem and your computer. You can get a nice linksys router for fairly cheap and it is much more effective as a firewall.

[DonC]

Thanks, Tadhg.


Now I just gotta call the damn cable company.

[Callie]

USB Cable Modem? They are universally hated in my tech support center.

Good luck on getting it to work. It will still probably be better than the crappy Motorola Surfboard my cable provider gave me.

[Sanagi]

So starting March 25th, I'm going to be able to post REALLY FRICKIN FAST!!!!You'll be able to click "new posts" two dozen times before any new posts actually happen! Welcome to the cutting edge of technology!

[Jeff Brady]

Some companies have an all-in-one modem, like this one. (http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1138056788757&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper)

[west3man]

I just replaced my modem, today. i wasn't sure if the connection issues i was having were due to the signal or the modem.

here's hopin' that it was the old modem.