From your description, it may be IE that was required. For most cable and dsl modems, it is a good idea to use a NAT router. Doing so will add a firewall and for dsl will do the dailing for you.

@GuySkarps: A great deal of the time, you can mimic your TCP/IP settings from Windows into Linux, and have it work fine.

And whenever the ISP insists (I've installed modems for friends, neighbors) that software "MUST be installed", I won't. It's for "ease of setup" usually, but I've seen where other utilities are installed, which wreak havoc on the client's computer. And there's no telling what else is being installed without your consent.

I can't remember the problem it was over a year ago. And when I went into firefox I got a message from the cable company saying this operating system was unsupported and when I switched to windows 98SE in IE it worked fine, but still had a problem and said to contact the ISP and firefox in 98 wouldn't do it I believe, but I'm a little hazy on that. I think something was wrong with the router at the time, but I can't remember much.

The cable company didn't install anything this time the just used IE and did their services online like that. When I had two computers (me and my roommates) they needed to add software to his to get the wireless usb connection working to connect to the wireless router, but no other software.

How can I mimic my TCP/IP settings from windows to linux? In case this messes up again ever? Still using win98SE on the other side.

even if the ISP says they don't support linux you can still get network support (there network not your's)
you just have to know what questions to ask
like do you use DHCP ?
dos your DHCP server send the DNS address or do I need set it
what network protocols do you support
so on and so forth

My ISP (Time Warner - Roadrunner) said they didn't support Linux so I called them and had to do a Manual configuration which consisted of me reading the serial number and MAC Address on my cable modem to them so it could be entered it into their system. Once that was done they provisioned my circuit and I was able to get online. Nope that software they send you is not necessary, it is as stated above for ease of setup and convenience.

I have also witnessed Windows machines that were totally crippled once the ISP's software was installed on them.. You know who you are YAHOO DSL !! Evil evil invasive software, that is totally un-necessary..

Keep in mind most of the Internet's backbone was UNIX machines originally.. so how is it a Linux box wouldn't be able to get online ???

The ISP's own servers are probably running Unix or RH Linux. With the exception of the stupid web server that runs windows, and depends on the clients browser being able to run active x.

I've had a different situation where I needed a static address for a video server. However it did'n't have a browser. It did have a bootable dvd drive, so I ran a linux live distro to be able to provision the cable modem.