Hello,

>>  I remember having read somewhere that having a
>> router with only one network interface is not secure -- is that true?
>
> Well, does your DSL modem have a router, or is it just a modem? My 
> understanding is that the modem-only solution basically exposes 
> everything on the inside to the outside.
Usually that's wrong. Most DSL modems use pppoe - PPP packets 
encapsulated in ethernet frames, so there's no exposure of anything 
besides what the router exposes. You can't 'look at the network' just 
through the modem.

> If I understand this, it would mean that you would need externally 
> visible IPs on all the machines on the inside of the modem.
Not at all.

> I could be wrong about that, but I think that's what the folks at 
> comcast were trying to tell me without actually giving away the clues 
> as to what I could do about it if I were so inclined. Their story was 
> that they would let their DHCP router assign up to five addresses on 
> the customer side of that modem.
Ok, that's different then - in this case I wouldn't use it through a 
switch *shudder*

have fun
Michael