Best Cable Modem / Router?
 

Sorry if there's already a thread on this somewhere, but with the search function disabled, I don't know. :)
I'll be moving off campus next year into an apartment, and I'm planning on getting cable internet for the place. Since I'm fairly unknowledgable on the subject, my question is - what makes a good cable modem and router? Is there a particular brand or model that is "best" or does it not really matter? I'm just not sure what to be looking for as I search around to buy one. If anyone has any suggestions on what products to buy, or what to look for at least, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)
*edit* There are three of us needing to share the connection, so yeah, I need a router.

If you are the only one using the cable modem, a router is not needed. Just hook the cable modem directly up to your Network Interface Card.

Im not familiar with the purchasing of a cable modem, rental of mine is included with the service from the cable company.

If you would like to share the cable modem among several computers, then you would need a router. Now depending on what your needs are, a cheap router may be just as good as the best ones out there for you.

For basic home networking they come in two flavours, 10mbit and 10/100 mbit. Price difference isnt much, you wont see a difference in either if you are just using the internet, but once you start transfering files from Pc to Pc, thats when you see the extra speed of the 10/100mbit.

But anyways, ive found NetGear and LinkSys hubs/routers to be of good quality. Yes you can buy an awesome router, but if you cant utilize all its functions, its basically a waste of money.

as for the modem itself, I have a Motorola Surfboard sb4100 (supplied by my cable company) and it works very well. Ive had absolutely NO trouble with it in the year and a half I've had it.

my NIC is a Dlink 10/100 model DFE-530TX, which I also have had no trouble with.

Your cable ISP will probably have a list of models that they recommend. I second Sion's recommendation of the Motorola. They seem to be the "standard" in cable modems.

A router would be optional, however, a lot of Windows machines have probably been saved from infection because of that extra layer of protection.

NetGear and Linksys are OK.

Believe it or not, Microsoft makes a router that I was pretty impressed with.

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/br...s.aspx?pid=001

Very easy to set up, and the user interface is very well designed. It will work with non-Microsoft operating systems.

I've been using a Toshiba cable modem that I got through my provider (Cox) and I've never had any problems with it.

I also use a Linksys wireless router and it's great.

I've used most cable modems out there and they all seem to be great! Never run into any problems. Don't go without a router though... hackers have no mercy when they find a naked PC sitting on the Net. I've used several of the low end 'home' routers and have had the best success with Linksys and NetGear.

Cable modem: No idea, got it from Charter Communications, looks like a shark fin
Wireless Router: D-Link (not a single problem so far)

I have a RCA modem supplied by my cable provider. I don't have a home network, yet, but I use a Netgear router for a hardware firewall. It was about $60.00 which is well worth the peace of mind to me. My software firewall has popped-up no alerts since I bought the router.

I have no trouble with my Motorola Surfboard SB5100 at all. I don't think it's gone down once since I got on cable 3 months ago save for a wide-area power outage. Definitely worth my money. :)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I really appreciate it! :)

I'll be picking up a Netgear 80211g wireless router as soon as I get my new 15" Powerbook from the office. Read up on the Macworld reviews that the Netgear is the best router for user's who don't want to shell out the dough for the Airport Extreme, which I don't.

I was pretty happy with the Linksys 4-port Ethernet Router I had running for a while. Unfortuantely, I had to muck with some settings when Comcast used to try to stop people from using routers, and I could never get it back working again after a while.

I did buy a cheapo CompUSA branded router fro $40 that works fine. I'm not doing anything fancy with it, so it'll work until I upgrade for wireless.