@ender said:This usually depends on the ISP and age of the modem - around here (in Slovenia) old ADSL modems were just modems, and the computer needed to establish PPPoE connection (or just plain ethernet connection, again depending on ISP). Newer ones can also work as routers and sometimes have VoIP to PSTN adapters and wireless built-in.
Yeah, where "old" is circa 2001. The original Alcatel speed touch home was a modem only, though the "pro" version had a router (one could hack the home version into a pro with the caveat there was no way to secure it). We used one with a linux PC "router" for several years. I've had a modem router since 2004 (Billion 5100, replaced with a 7404VGPM in 2008 to get ADSL2+ access). My new Billion has VoIP, wireless, VPN and annex M access. It can apparently be hacked to use one of the LAN ports as an Ethernet wan, which I'll probably have to use if I can't afford a new router when/if the NBN arrives (which is gig-Ethernet based)