Industrial One <industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On May 14, 4:07 am, Andy <1...@2.3> wrote:
>> On Wed, 14 May 2008 00:55:31 -0700 (PDT), Industrial One
>>
>> <industrial_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> On May 14, 1:31 am, Andy <1...@2.3> wrote:
>>>> Does the modem have a router in it?
>>
>>> No.
>>
>> You need one. Otherwise you have to use something like Windows XP
>> Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
>
> Wise cracks aside,

Hmmm. I didn't notice any wisecracking. But pardon my rudely jumping in.....

> lemme know if I understand correctly: a modem and a
> router are interchangable.

Nope...

> Technically a modem is a dumb device that
> only accepts and forwards connections,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem

>a router is a computer itself
> that manages the connections/packets more intelligently.

It can be a cheap & cheerful hardware appliance, and in the context here,
likely is a simple NetGear, Linksys, D-Link device. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router for a definition of routers in general.
Note that in the home/small office context, what you may see labeled as a
"router" is not actually a router at all, but rather a simple gateway device
that allows you to share one internet connection amongst several devices on
a LAN, doing NAT (network address translation).

Your network would be configured something like this:

[DSL/cable connection]
|
[modem (usually ISP's)]
|
[router - WAN IP, xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx or configured via DHCP from the
modem
and LAN IP, such as 192.168.0.1/24]
|
|--- integrated or separate Ethernet switch----|
| | | |
workstations (using 192.168.0.0/24 network)

The "router" here should also have some firewall capabilities.

> I believe my
> modem, is a genuine router. Let me know how I can verify it.

Not likely to be a true router, but I suppose it's possible it could be a
gateway appliance. You'd have to look it up.