[jem]

Ok I understand what you want to do. You have a VM cable modem, which is a small black box thing into which you can connect your PC or laptop using an ethernet cable. Now the modem can only have one device connected to it at a time and when you swop to another machine you probably need to power it off and then on again right.

What you need is a cable router. This is a device which plugs into the modem and itself has a number (usually four) of sockets into which you can plug PCs or laptops and use them all at the same time without having to reboot anything. Even better is to get a cable router which also has wireless built in, something like a Linksys WRT54G but there are other options available. Then not only can you plug your PC into one of the sockets on it but your wireless laptop will also connect directly to the internet using..well wireless!

If you go looking for a wireless router, make sure you get one for cable connections and not an ADSL wireless router/modem. These are more common in the shops but certainly won't work for you.