LAN and WWW

hi there.
im about to get broadband on my downstaris pc.
i currently have another upstairs one that is connected to it via a basic hub (no uplink ports for phones etc) which works fine except i cant look at any of the downstairs ones shared files etc as it says i dont have access permissions. any ideas how to get into it?
also, when i get broadband via the modem that comes with the package will i be able to use the hub to get the internet through the one downstairs to upstairs or will i have to get a router?
cheers

If you get only 1 IP address with your package you will need a router to network the computers together.

ok so im thinking about getting a wireless router, the netgear dg834g. i was wondering if anyone could tell me whether the drop to 54mb will still run games ok over the network as i currently have a 100mb wired one. also, if i use a router, will i be able to do things like have msn messenger running on both pc's under different user names.

54MBps will only make a diference if you are transferring large files between machines on the network.As your internet connection will be less than 54Mbps then the internet connection itself will likely be the bottleneck when you are browsing the net.

Short answer: For sharing an internet connection,54MBps wont make a difference compared to 100Mbps.

so will the difference be felt when playing games over the network on my 2 comps. also, when using the wireless port, how many comps can access it at once? is it unlimited? if so, will the speed be reduced by more comps accessing it? or say if i had 1 comp on the switch (10/100) snd then 2 onsing the 54mb wireless, will all network traffic be at the max, i.e. one at 100mb and 2 at 54mb?

Your internet connection will probably be less than 3Mb so anything over that (router at 56Mb) will be fine. Like he said before your Lan speed is many times faster than your Internet connection so multiple machines gaming wont have an effect on your Lan jsut on the internet side. your internet gaming will be effected if you have a very low Internet speed (aka 128/128 DSL)...

IF your talking about gaming just over your LAN, then you have more bandwidth than you know what to do with. Most servers for Games over the net are probalby on a T1 (1.5 Mb) connection for 20+ players and your worried about 3 players on a 54 Mb Lan....no need to worry..

to get permission to the files you have to disable the firewall
go to network connections - properties on your connection - advanced tab - uncheck the box
i think that will let you access the files