A linksys router (wireless if needed) should do the trick.

You will (usually) have to put the dsl modem in 'bridged' mode (your ISP
should be able to help you with that) and setup the router.

Some ISP's offer the whole setup.

Not necessarily. With AT&T, most of their modems are wireless already so you
dont need anything. Unless you just want a linksys router, you dont have to have
it.

One point that should be made, make sure that there is a nic (either
wired or wireless ) for each computer and if a wired lan, you will need
a cat 5e cable for each computer.

you wont need to do much at all. I dont know who your phone company is
but, most of them provide the modem (which you lease) and its a pretty easy
setup.

The modems mac address is on file with the telco. You have a user name and
password. Once you set up your modem you dont have to enter it again. The only
thing you do on your end is plug the modem into your computer at your ethernet
port, turn on your web browser and it redirects you to a page to put in some
information. That page is hosted by the telco and after you configure just a few
things - your dont!

Now, some people have needed to set up PPOE but I have never had to do that with
any of my clients who are with AT&T or any Bell company.

You might just call them and ask about the modem. Get the make and model so you
can do a bit of research ahead of time.

I recently switched from WinXP to Ubuntu. I have wireless broadband and
a router.
Never had to do ANYTHING to keep using the internet. It was wonderful!

I had been looking for some sort of Hardware
Compatibility site but hadn't found one. I take it that one brand of
wireless card and router is pretty much the same as another and that I
don't have to look for a specific brand and model to get it to work. I
also thought I might have to have certain drivers or something from
the repositories. I guess it'll be pretty much
plug and play.

my 2 cents on the wireless cards. No they all will not work with
Ubuntu 8.04. I had a D-Link that worked thru the USB port and had no problem
with XP but would not work with Ubuntu at all. I ended up buying a wireless PC
card (sorry not at home and don't remember the name right now), that I installed
in with XP and it works fine with Ubuntu. There is a site that will tell which
ones will work,might work, and will not work (wireless cards). I would suggest
look at some of the old messages on the group and one of them has the URL to the
compatipabilty site that is how I located the one I purchased. Check it out
before you purchase.

Unfortunately not everyone is so lucky. It is supposed to work this way because
Linux should detect the hardware and supply the drivers in the background
without ever having to insert a driver CD. With the right hardware (and yours
seems to be the case) it just works. However, with the wrong hardware (that does
not support Linux), it can be a pain. Woody is right to anticipate problems and
try to head them off.

At the very least he can expect his ISP not to support Linux (or at least to
claim not to). In practice most will give support if you are reasonably
knowledgeable. My DSL service gave me a couple of problems.

First off I had to change my network and print server to 192.168.2 instead of
192.168.1 due to some interference between the two and secondly I had set up my
internet with DHCP and they insisted on going the bridged route with pppoe and
this did not sit well with my wife who was used to an always on internet. Even
an icon on her desktop to start the DSL was too much for her after more than ten
years with an always on internet (we switched from cable to DSL due to limits
imposed by our ISP). I ended up in convincing them that DHCP was the best for us
and we now have an always on internet. We have Primus as our DSL provider. So
far things have been good and we have unlimited internet which is becoming
increasingly rare.

I have and have installed two DSL systems with two telephone ISPs, Verizon
and Windstream (formerly Alltel).

My experience has been the ISPs do not support Linux as the Install/Setup
software. Once I have the initial setup connection achieved with Win 2000 I
fired up or installed Ubuntu. Like magic, Ubuntu didn't have to be told
anything about the Ethernet - DSL connection. Like true user friendly
software, like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, it "called home", going to
www.ubuntu.com as its homepage. After a few seconds a message came up saying
my current installed software needed updates. Its amazing that although
Windoze and the DSL modem were made to work together. They can't do this
automaticly and Linux can.

The DSL modems Verizon and Windstream provided has a USB and 4 Ethernet
ports plus a wireless Ethernet. Never used the wireless or USB ports but
have had more than 2 Ethernet PCs connected with no problems.

Like mentioned earlier. I would be good to contact your provider, get the
model of the DSL modem and see if they NOW support Linux. If not come back
here with the ISP provider and modem and see if anyone has had any
experience with them.

does anyone know where this Linux
novice can find a driver for an ewire USB wireless adapter
supported by Puppy Linux? It was suggested that I first]
use Puppy as I learn Linux and shift into Ubuntu as I go
along. But I would like to make this Compaq Armana
M700 laptop WiFi capable with this adapter my ISP
(Qwest) gave me. I am on a limited budget.

But if necessary I could go to another wifi adapater
either card or USB adapater. And any suggestions
as to what would be best and most economical would
also be appreciated.

even if you don't use the wireless port, I hope you have
disabled it and/or enabled one of the wireless security options to
keep your neighbors from using it.