Need help sharing internet connection with Motorola Surfboard SB4100

[MrBond]

Just got our spiffy new cable internet connection installed in the house I'm sharing with 3 other people for the rest of college, but now there's a problem. I can't figure out how to share the connection effectivly. I had a friend on the same cable modem service, with the same cable modem, and he had the line out going from the modem to a hub, then going to each of the computers attached to it. However, this may have been before the cable company started charging on a "per computer" connection (now they charge to share it among pc's in the house, and it's like $11/ea, which my roomates will most likely not like. I just talked to the cable guy (trying to get something out of him about how to setup the other pcs in the house), and he said that every four hours, the mac address that can access the modem changes, so I can either A)call them every time a different pc wants to connect to the internet (not an option) or B)Wait four hours.

Will buying a router solve all my woes? Is that the easiest way to share the internet connection without doing ICS (it's too much trouble to make sure one pc is always on)? Never had cable internet service before, so I'm kind of new to it. If that's the case, do I just forget the cable modem and run the coax right into the router, or can I run the feed from the cable modem to the router, then to all the pcs?

Help would be much appreciated, my roomates are getting anxious to get online

 

[sohcrates]

yeah, if you don't want to pay extra money , and don't like the idea of a computer on 24-7, then a router is your only real choice.

BUT, a router costs money....and if ya'll are only together for a while longer, it might not be worth it to invest in one.

With a router, you basically run coax to cable modem, like usual, but then you run cable modem to WAN input on router via ethernet cable. from that point, you run ethernet cable out of the "LAN" outputs to every machine that wants a connection.

Do you have a hub or a switch? If so, then ICS might be a cheaper way to go. Because all you'd need to buy is an extra network card (plus maybe a hub if you don't have one)

check out practicallynetworked.com for LOTS of good info on stuff to buy and how to setup networks and stuff.

edit: oh yeah, think of the router as your "always on" computer...it continuously keeps the MAC address that the cable provider is issuing...all the computers "behind" the router are not seen from the outside world, so they can "hide" behind the router and get connections w/out paying extra cash.

 

[MrBond]

Thanks for the help sohcrates. We'll be together for another 2 years here, so it looks like I'll be buying a router today. I appreciate it

 

[sohcrates]

Originally posted by: MrBond
Thanks for the help sohcrates. We'll be together for another 2 years here, so it looks like I'll be buying a router today. I appreciate it

good choice. let me know if you need help setting it up

 

[MrBond]

Just got it going, took a little fooling around, but beyond that, it's working great. Going to have to think about relocating the entire setup, but other than that, it's great. Ended up getting hte Netgear 114 router, setup was pretty easy. I appreaciate all the help. Gotta love Anandtech forums when I'm stuck with something