[ale] Question about cable modem connections

[Jim Lynch]

I'm about to set out on a project that's bound to be hazardous to my 
marriage and maybe my health.  I'm sending my wife to her mother's house 
(who is 91) with a laptop running Xubuntu.  When she gets there, she'll 
order internet service from the local cable provider.  While I have no 
hope that the installer will even know what Linux is, I'm hoping it will 
be plug and play. 

My question is, do cable modems work like DSL modems in that they have a 
DHCP server built in so all you have to do is plug a computer that works 
with a DHCP enabled router?  Or do you have to do some manual configuration?

The reason I asked is that the little lady is a modern day Luddite  wrt 
computers.  After about 5 years I think she's finally able to plug her 
SD card from the camera into the reader and when the window pops up with 
her pictures, she knows to open another window and find the right 
directory to drag and drop the pictures into.  I don't think she's 
mastered creating a new directory without help yet however.  She's never 
caught on to what directory trees are all about yet.

When she was teaching school, she always found a bright student that 
understood computers to help her.  At home, I'm her bright student.  :(

Thanks for any pointers,
Jim.