Well, my family finally decided to switch from dial up to a cable modem. Since we have two computers and use the internet for business/school we need to share the interent connection. My friend suggested a router and I had my father research about it. Comcast offered to install it for 99 dollars. Then my dad looked at best buy and asked the staff about home networking. They told him that he needed to buy the router and an adapter. But they also told him, it would be complicated to install it and offered to install it with professional help. That would mean we would have to pay for the router, the adapter, and the installation, totaling to 300 bucks. Please help us! Is a router easy to install? Or should we just have comcast install it? Also what are the best routers at a reasonable price? Amy

You can get an Ethernet router for under $40 and install it yourself if the systems are close together and you can run Ethernet cables to them. This does require both systems have an Ethernet adapter ($10) in them and Ethernet cables that can be expensive if bought at places like Best Buy. Easy to do with the instructions provided. First step is to get the Cable modem installed and working with one of the computers using an Ethernet connection. (Do not setup to use the USB connection on the computer. Get an Ethernet PCI card (NIC) if necessary for the computer.) Many systems now days already have an Ethernet connector built in to them. Look on the back for a "larger phone jack type 8 wire plug". Most Cable modem install packages come with an Ethernet cable to use. Use it. After you get this one system running on cable, enjoy the Internet on it for a few days/weeks. Get the "bugs" worked out with poor house TV cables, wrong splitters and such. Setting up a Cable connection with a new ISP can take more time and effort than you might think. It may take several days for them to activate your modem. Best Buy is one of the better ways to get a modem that you own. With a cable company provided modem, it is theirs and you pay an extra monthly fee for it. Keep your old Dial-up account active for awhile. Then you can add the router and cables for the second system. Then all you need is the router, an additional Ethernet cable and maybe an Ethernet card for the second system if it does not have one. (There should be a short Ethernet cable with the router to go between the Cable Modem and the router). Follow instructions to add the router between the cable modem and the working system. Be aware that it might take some time for this interface to become active. Often you have to power the cable modem and router off overnight, for the ISP to allow the combination to activate on their network the next day. Sometimes this process only take an hour or two of the modem being powered off. Once you have the a system working on the router, it is a simple matter to add the second system(s) to it. (Up to four system with they typical router.) Second choice after getting the Cable working on one system is to go with a more expensive Wi-Fi (Wireless) router (under $100). It would hook into the first system by the Ethernet cable just as the basic router would, and could be use with a cable to the second system(s) also. But has the advantage of being able to connect the second system with a wireless adapter and to Laptops with wi-fi adapters built in. This allows you to have the second system any where in the house and still access the Internet. This option is a bit more expensive because you need the more expensive Wi-Fi wireless G router and a $50 wi-fi adapter for the second system. Follow the same procedure as with a basic router. However with a wi-fi router, you need to learn about wi-fi security and how to set up your wi-fi router. As shipped they are open to all systems. This means your neighbors and people on the street with a wi-fi laptop could use your Cable Internet connection and even access your systems. So you have to learn about wi-fi security setting. Then again, your friend who suggested doing this might know more about doing all this and can help you set it up and get it running. To keep it simple, go with the basic router, not the more expensive wi-fi router unless running cables to the second system is a problem.

look here www.practicallynetworked.com

Yes....must look at www.practicallynetworked.com. Then, later on, must eat brains.....

get a linksys 2 or 4 port router as i find linksys the easiest to install, just plug & play almost david