Could someone explain why we can’t just plug the average PC etc into a ‘raw’ internet line (like just entering a house) and have a mini modem on the motherboard do the translation work?
I know there’s a limit to IP addresses, and that it’s maybe easier to have a little box do the work where it enters a building.
… but apart from that?
Thanks for all the responses. V interesting.
The other day while shopping for a new modem-router, we kept finding good deals only to realise that they were only routers. No fibre-to-the-house for us yet so dems no good. Don’t want to chase around finding a separate modem too. Got a TP-Link Deco in the end. It seemed the easiest / best thing available to the physical Saturday consumer in need.
Just to add a bit of discussion on the modem vs. modem + router thing. I know it’s a pain to have to get two devices; cost is higher; also two things to worry about hooking up/configuring.
At my previous place I bought a Motorola modem in 2012 or so. I kept that modem for 10 years and it chugged along delivering the speeds I paid for. Because it simply had an Ethernet port on the back of it, it meant that I went through 3 or 4 routers in that period. Some were replaced because I got a router for free from a friend and wanted to install custom firmware. Some were swapped in because the previous one failed, and the last one was added because I upgraded to a Ubiquiti Edge Router and two separate WAPs.
None of this would have been possible with a combo device.
Again, I’m not trying to convince you or anyone else that this is a path for everyone, just adding a different way of viewing the two devices situation. It offers you flexibility and plug-ability.
Sure. Sounds good. I saw lots of stand-alone routers on the shelves, but nary a solo modem.
My query was purely theoretical anyway.