Quote Originally Posted by sunwatt
What is PPPoE?... I wont be adding a router very soon,..
ADSL uses a special protocol that the normal Internet protocols are embedded in called PPPoE or Point to point protocol over ethernet. To use adsl you have to speak to it with PPPoE. You likelyi installed some sort of PPPoE driver when you installed dsl to your Windows box.

Routers are made with an option to use PPPoE so they can work with DSL. Since the router can speak the PPPoE, none of the computers on the router need talk PPPoE, the router takes care of the extra protocol when needed.

Older versions of Knoppix had a PPPoE client that you could set up, had to be configured every time that Knoppix was booted. Those running with a router don't have to configure Knoppix at all, it just works. In fact we saw at least one user who was trying to configure their computer to get on the Internet who didn't realize that they were already on the Internet and no configuration at all was needed. However, I'm not sure if 5.x versions of Knoppix even offer that feature, I seem to remember some discussion from others saying it was no longer there. If it is gone I'm actually glad, as it is extremely important to use a router.

In addition to supporting multiple computers, a router offers a very important hardware firewall that keeps bad things on the Internet out of your computer. Many tests show that the survival time of a Windows system on the Internet without a hardware firewall is so low that a new system can't even connect to Microsoft and download the latest software fixes to all of the Microsoft vulnerabilities before it is infected by something out there looking for something to infect, here is just one example. Routers are not just for running multiple computers, they are an important security device for anyone with even one computer.

So I take anyone refusing to use a router, particularly someone who calls them self a novice and who doesn't even know about PPPoE, as I would someone who insists on driving a car without a windshield, saying they might get one some day. You're not just putting yourself at risk, you're putting everyone at risk.