I'm like you chaplndave I've never heard of a DSL with dial up capabilites. And from what I've seen the switch is better than a hub. I just got one from www.newegg.com for about 55 bucks and it has 8 ports. Not that I need that many now but if I have friends over and we have a Lan party for gaming it's a nice start. Also you may want to check on newegg for some of your parts. It's a good site, doesn't have the widest selection on the net but it does have some of the best deals. You may even be able to get an XP 2000 processor for just a little more than the XP 1800. Have a good day. And my hat is off to those that are defending this country. I was for a while but went back to the civilian world. Me and my family appreciate those that continue to endure the hardships that come with a military life.