What does 6 usable mean? (never purchased ip addy's from an isp.) Are they giving you a subnet of 8 addresses, 1 broadcast, and one net address?

So your leasing these I assume? And does that mean you've got a special line?

I assume you only have one line. Depending on exactly what type of line it is, will determine what you need to do. Your ISP really needs to answer these questions.

You may need to just use a hub like you say, and plug up the 6 computers. Your ISP will have to tell you wheter to use DHCP or static IP's. I've heard some ISP's make you still use dhcp even if you only have 1 static IP. But I'd imagine that changes per ISP and per service from said ISP.

If you've been given 8 ip addresses, I doubt you'll need a router, that's usually for putting multiple machines on 1 address (duh). But if you want to configure it as mainly just a firewall, and a point to hook your line in, that couldn't hurt. As long as you configure it right.

As far as I know these questions should really be handled by your isp.

~Jon.