Router + Modem + Ethernet switch

My problem was not being able to see all servers. My netgear wgr614v9 would only find 900 servers when it should find 4500. Also any time i clicked on a server it said "server not responding".
Also surely it would be the same amount of security? I would be using the wired connection straight from the modem. And the wireless would still be setup as it was before...

And i was using a wired connection before to my router not wireless. I also tried all the things that steam suggested like portforwarding so it has to be the router that is not very good.

Can you explain how i lose security please and what do you mean by manual configuration?

That makes sense. I still wrote this reply, so I'll post it. And keep playing; that's how your learn

What I meant by reduced security is that you are losing NAT and probably a built in firewall by going to a switch. The firewall is most likely not turned on in your current router, so that wouldn't matter (windows since XP has a built in one anyway). NAT (network address translation) takes the requests from all of the computers on the local network and translates them into a single internet facing IP address, so that it looks like all requests are coming from one device. This makes it so that attackers can't see individual computers behind the NAT enabled router and so have a harder time attacking them. Speaking for myself, I would still connect to the internet without a NAT enabled router, so I don't think that this is a killing consideration.

The other thing that you would loose is DHCP, which represents ease of configuration. A DHCP server automatically assigns an IP address to each client which connects to it, eliminating address collisions. You might still be able to plug and play with the switch (per your discovery, you couldn't when plugged directly into the modem); this is another area I have not played around with. If not, assigning a static IP address to your computer should solve the problem.

Linksys E2000

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/li [...] eviewPage1

This is a Modem Router. it is a router with a build in DSL modem you will not be able to connect it to your Cisco 2100.

The Linksys E1000 is similar to the E2000. Difference is NO 5GHz wireless and only 10/100 LAN ports (E2000 has 10/100/1000 LAN ports)

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lin [...] s-n-router

It will connect all PC to the internet; nevertheless, you might still have to play around with the settings.

Otherwise you could assign you PC a static IP like 192.168.1.10 and use the DMZ settings.

Another idea is to go to the TF2 forum and see if anybody is recommending a certain router or is listing the setup for the router which worked for them.

If you end up using the DMZ settings, be aware that you will be outside the firewall of your router. It is the same as hooking up your PC directly to the modem. Anybody on the internet can see and will have access to your PC if you don't use a software firewall.

Yes. However I would use the Network Wizard and configure the network as Public for added security.