I use the Linksys router on a high speed connection to keep several computers here at the NOSPIN NOC isolated from the Internet. I don't notice any particular performance degradation and it's pretty easy to set up. Herbert Graf's suggestion of using a Linux Router has a lot of merit, though. I've installed the Netmax firewall/router to support a 150 computer network's access to a T3 line on the Internet and it works flawlessly on an old Pentium 90 system. I don't see why something similar shouldn't work well on a 486 with just a few computers connected to it. I think that the Netmax software goes for around US100.00 retail, but there are a number of free implementations...one that comes to mind is the Free Cisco project at http://www.freesco.org. It's supposed to allow you to boot a fully functional Linux router/firewall from a single floppy disk. Since I haven't tried it, I can't vouch for it, but it's reputed to be a pretty good performer. Drew Dunn The NOSPIN Group -----Original Message----- [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Gary Cassidy Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2001 5:56 PM Just wondering if anyone has a sense of any major advantages to using a LinkSys (or other brand) Cable Modem Router over a Proxy Server when sharing an Internet Connection. I have @Home service connected to a Celeron 366A. This in turn is networked to an ancient old 486 using a simple Peer To Peer network (an Ethernet card in each beast connected by a Cat5 cable). The Internet is currently shared to the 486 by means of AnalogX Proxy (www.analogx.com last time I visited the site). The connection on the Celeron is lightening quick while the connection on the 486 resembles my old 56 K modem. My son and wife do some surfing while I work and they are quite frustrated by the difference. I'm considering picking up a LinkSys router both to speed up the connect but also because I may possibly be adding another computer to the mix and will need to connect all three so a hub or router will be needed. The only other consideration I should mention is that I use ZoneAlarm configured to allow access to the 486. Thanks for any ideas/comments Gary _ PCBUILD's List Owner's: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>