You can network multiple computers through a Hub. Hub's are available for purchase at any one of our Sales Outlets listed on this website. With a hub, in order to have multiple computers online at the same time, you will require a separate IP address for each computer. Think of an IP address as a license plate for your car. Everything that is connected to the Internet has to have an IP address. Check under our "Cable" menu to see how many IP addresses are included with your access plan. In some cases, you may need to add an additional IP address to your plan for $10 per IP address per month.

Routers/Residential Gateways

Routers are usually a bit more expensive than a Hub in terms of upfront cost. However, unlike with a Hub, you do not need to have a separate IP address for each computer that is network through the router. This can potentially save you some money in the long run since you won't need to pay for extra IP addresses. The way a router works is that the IP address is assigned to the router itself. The router in turn assigns virtual IP addresses to each computer that is connected to it. In addition, most routers provide a firewall security feature to protect your network.

Proxy Servers

Another way of connecting more than one computer to the Internet off of the same modem is to employ a proxy server, or proxy server software. This way, each computer that wants to access the Internet will do so by going through this server. If you choose this option, you will need only one IP address for the proxy server.