# Can a broadband connection be shared in a home?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-broadband-connection-be-shared-in-a-home/328892>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 1, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-broadband-connection-be-shared-in-a-home/328892 "2005-11-01T11:27:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-broadband-connection-be-shared-in-a-home/328892/21 "2005-11-03T01:00:10Z")

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I think the scarcity or absence of any such solution is because it’s cheaper just to build in a modem than it is to implement the USB protocol to talk to one.

Chuck the old modem in the bin (or sell it for a couple of quid on eBay) and get a 40 quid router modem - you won’t be sorry.

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-broadband-connection-be-shared-in-a-home/328892/22 "2005-11-03T03:07:59Z")

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**Mangetout** is right. The Speedtouch modem is cheap (i.e. given away) because it’s dumb - it relies on firmware being uploaded as the computer boots up. Getting a router to do this would be far more effort than it’s worth.

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