Bondi iMac on Ethernet going to DSL issues

if your broadband company provides more than one IP address through a single connection, thenm a hub would suffice. most often, they only supply a single IP address, meaning you need a router to share the connection. I highly recommend linksys gear. I've personally always had good luck with them.

I also have a Linksys router and it has always worked great. I'm not sure about your final question, but consider this... The router acts like a little computer. With my Linksys router, I use a browser on my Mac (directed to a specified URL) to configure the router. Once configured, it interfaces with the DSL connection, and does what your single computer used to do to get connected. So any special DSL connection software that came from your service provider... you no longer need it installed because the router is handling that function.

Once the router is connected to DSL, your two Macs are simply using the local network to talk to the router. The router distributes the DSL connection to the two Macs and it also acts as a hub for the local network. You can still use your hub if the typical 4 connectors on the linksys is not enough, or if you want to run a wire to the next room for a network/internet connection point.

no, there are no compatibility issues between brands. They all use the same standards. Though personally, I'd just get a 4 port router. One less piece of equipment and most routers are 4 port routers, elimnating the need for a hub altogether.

Back when I had DSL, it was with the local phone company, SBC (which took over for PacBell) which is now AT&T. I had that router then. The ID and password were entered into the config screen of the router, and it connected automatically upon activity if there as a period of extended inactivity. You could also set it to continuously maintain the connection (I guess it simulated activity).

I now have cable through Comcast. With cable, there is not ID or password. The connection seems to be on all the time. Overall, I like it better. However, DSL was more reliable; cable has more outages.