[globular-toast]

It was. Our 56k modem was a PCI card. Later we had ISDN and ADSL modems (I still use the latter to this day). I only got a router (a Linksys device) to attach multiple computers to the internet. It was a few years before ISPs started bundling routers and WiFi APs.

[thebruce87m]

I hadn’t made that connection about 56k and public IPs until now. I just used it at the time before I had any of the knowledge I did now. Interesting!

[globular-toast]

I didn't think about it before I got the router. I found it a bit annoying because I had to think about things like port forwarding. Previously everything just worked without any configuration (like P2P file sharing or running a game server). I'm not sure I really understood it even then, though. Just followed instructions parrot fashion.

[thebruce87m]

Yep, same for me. I was just a teenager wanting to play games and then suddenly I had to know about port forwarding.