[Part 4 of 7]
Cable modem pricing
Cable modem pricing varies, but installing and maintaining a cable modem connection to the Internet costs more than a regular modem connection, but less than other high-speed connections (DSL and ISDN).
Cable equipment obligations: Don't buy any cable modem equipment before you check with your local cable company. The company may require that you use only certain brands of cable modems; you may have to buy or rent equipment directly from the cable company.
Get trapped: If you get cable modem service but don't want cable TV, make sure that the cable company technician installs a video trap, which is a filter that prevents you from receiving TV signals.
The Cable Modem Connection
Inside your house or office, the cable attaches to a splitter box. Into this splitter box, you plug your television and your cable modem. Next, you can plug the cable modem into the uplink port of your network hub using a standard Ethernet cable, or you can plug it into a regular hub port using a crossover cable.
Because a cable modem connection is an Ethernet connection, your computers are always connected to the Internet--no dialing up is required.