[X4U] Cable modem vs router

[Jonnythan]

Hello everyone,

I'm having a problem getting my cable modem to work at full speed via my
router. My speed is twice as good when I go straight from the modem to the
Mac's built-in ethernet (Dual 2.7 GHz PowerPC G5, OS X 10.4.9).

I thought the problem might be the age of the router, but buying a new one
only improved the situation slightly. I need a router to link up with
another Mac and a networked printer, but it isn't essential that I get
internet access for anything else.

I was wondering whether it would be a good plan to install an ethernet card
and run the cable modem directly from that, whilst leaving the router
connected to the built-in ethernet? Does anyone have any idea whether that
would work and be as good as running from the built-in ethernet?

Or is there anything else available that might help e.g. some sort of
adapter to plug two devices into the built-in ethernet (i.e. a sort of
router without any of a router's impedence)?

Thanks,


Best,

Jonnythan.