Connecting to a Cable or DSL Modem

As I explained in Chapter 14, the key steps to connecting a network to a broadband (cable or DSL) modem are

  • Making sure that your connection works with a single computer

  • Knowing what your settings are

  • Unplugging the wire that leads from the modem to your computer, and plugging it into the access point/router

  • Plugging the wired portion of your network into the socket (or sockets) on the access point/router

  • Entering the settings required for an Internet connection in the access point router

However, the things I showed you in Chapter 14 assume the very simplest of settings for your Internet connection, namely that your node on the Internet is dynamically assigned an IP using DHCP. (For more on what the heck is DHCP, ...

Get Absolute Beginner's Guide to Wi-Fi® Wireless Networking now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.