[TheaterCub]

Hey Fellas,

Just making sure: My roommate and I are going to both share a cable connection and he has a pc and I have a mac. TIme Warner said we'd need a hub. So I went to comp USA, told them I needed a hub compatible with mac and pc and they gave me a Netgear Router Gateway RP614. Is this going to work or do I need to return it and get a hub. If so, what kind?

[superlarry]

time warner should've said you'd need a router. that'll work fine. i don't know about time warner's cable, but for most companies, a simple hub won't do (the router part is what shares the connection to any computers hooked up to it.)
most routers, including this one, have a hub/switch built-in, meaning you can hook more than one computer directly into it with network cable (instead of having to buy a hub/switch separately).

[merlin]

The hub won't work unless that cable connection provides you multiple routable IP addresses. If you're stuck with only 1 routable IP address, you'll definitely need the router. You'll need 1 IP address for each computer if you plan on using a hub (at least hubs are cheaper).

A router will grab that 1 IP and than assign your computers on the network internal IP addresses so they can share the connection over 1 routable IP address. Another advantage of using a router is that it acts as a gateway for your network. Only one way in and one way out. This means better security for your network since most routers have firewalls built-in and computers outside your network will only be able too 'see' the router if they decided to scan your ports.

[SoBayJake]

Just making sure: My roommate and I are going to both share a cable connection and he has a pc and I have a mac. TIme Warner said we'd need a hub. So I went to comp USA, told them I needed a hub compatible with mac and pc and they gave me a Netgear Router Gateway RP614. Is this going to work or do I need to return it and get a hub. If so, what kind?

Time Warner (at least here in Los Angeles) will only assign one IP address for me. So we have a router. The one you have should be fine. Its all ethernet, so there should be no "Mac/PC Compatibility" issues.

I'd like to make a few suggestions: Just make sure everything works with just one computer connected directly to the cable modem. It can be tough troubleshooting the LAN setup if your cable modem itself isn't even working. :-) When you are ready to try putting the router in the picture, turn off the computer, unplug the cable modem, put the router in the setup, and turn on in this order: cable modem (at let it "settle"), then the router, then the computer.

Hopefully, it will all go smoothly. :-)
Jake

PS Personal rant: Avoid CompUSA :-( They have bad return policies (15% restocking fees, etc). If something is defective, and you picked up a replacement at another store, they will only swap it out. See details at: http://www.compusa.com/terms.asp#returns BTW: I specifically looked for this posted at the store near my house, and guess what? It was a small sign posted at each register, and of the 4 or 5 registers, it was *covered* by another sign so no one could see it. I asked them, and they said it "was a mistake" and should not be covered. Uh huh. And its *still* covered weeks later (by another sign)!

[tooki]

Be sure to follow your router's instructions for setting up a password to its setup page.

tooki

[MusicalTone]

Get youself an AE Base station and plug it into whatever modem router you have. Then just share the Internet connection with as many computers (mac or PC) as you like.

I have a Sony Vaio and 15" SD networked on mine . No problems.