I vaguely recall that hubs are slower than routers so routers are the way to
go.
winxp network thingy is really pissy. sometimes you have to reboot multiple
times or even run the network setup wizard over and over to keep it working.
It is a royal pain. Lately mine has been ok though.
Oh, as for finding routers you can look them up at www.pricegrabber.com. It
lets you add in your zip code to factor in shipping costs. It sorts by the
best price and has customer ratings on the products as well as customer
ratings of the stores that are offering it. So if the lowest priced store
has a bad rating, you can choose to get one slightly more expensive at a
more reliable store. I personally like yesmicro.com. I've ordered from them
numerous times. I think with yesmicro you get a discount if you order a
product after locating it on www.pricewatch.com. I tend to look for it on
pricegrabber then check for it on pricewatch. Another site for info on
products is www.epinions.com. I tend to use all 3 to help determine what
product I want.
luv,
-Su

Yeah I supose you could do that with a standard networking hub, but best bet
is to go with a router. Usually doesn't require any extra software, it's
easy to configure, and most of them have built in firewalls. I've never
heard of SyGate, but Windows ME/XP both have something called Internet
Connection sharing which essentially sets up a proxy server ont he host
machine and allows all the others to connect through it. I used it before
and its okay but a little tempermental at times when you start adding 3rd
party firewall software to the mix. I'd still reccomend going with a
router. Small 4 port routers aren't that expensive. You can pick them up
at Best buy or Comp USA for less than $60. Just make sure you know what
you're getting.

Wulfric