Not sure. I haven't gotten the modem, yet. I used to have a cable modem that connected to a nic. When I ordered the new one, they asked me if I had USB, which I did so they said they would use that. Not sure if they are connecting via a converter or what. It would be silly as I have two nics in the pc already. But if they are using a converter cable I should be able to ditch it and connect with a standard cable, right?