Re: SB8200 2nd Port

Pretty much everyone runs a mix of wired and wireless connections in their homes these days without needing a separate public IP address.  

Maybe I'm just not properly understanding what I should be doing.  I can only run either the wired connection or a wireless connection from my modem because comcast doesn't allow both ports to be in use simultaneously.  They are saying in order to enable the second port usage, an additional IP address is needed.  Is there a different way to accomplish this?  

I should probably have prefaced this with "i'm not a networking engineer and don't profess to know much about networking".  I just want to figure out how to have a wired connection to my TV while also allowing for wifi for the rest of the home's devices

Thanks for the replies and extra details.  I think I have my brain wrapped around this now.  I have 2 ports on my router, so I will hook a switch up there and should be able to get things working that way.   My problem was compounded because the hardwired connection was appearing not to work due to a bad ethernet adapter.  Now that I have that resolved, I think I'm able to get everything working as I had hoped.  Thanks again.

The SB6 gateway @RobertWy mentions combines a cablemodem and a wired/wifi router in a single device.  The SB8200 is just a cablemodem so you need to connect it to a wifi/wired router, not a switch. You could add a switch on the other side of the router if you need more ports but you need the function of a router to manage your local network.   You mentioned you were already connecting to something for wifi.  What device is that, and doesn't it have some additional wired ports?  If so, that is where you should connect the rest of your wired devices.

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@RobertWy wrote: ... My Xfinity XB6 Gateway modem only has one ethernet port ...

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No, it has two Ethernet ports. But when you have the device in bridge mode, you can only use one of the ports. Please try to keep this straight!

15 month old dead thread now being closed..

I have the same modem and got the same question. And here is what I found:
Utilize Both Ethernet Ports
The 2nd Ethernet port can be used for Link Aggregation setup or adding an additional IP address for Internet service.  

• Link Aggregation Setup - Link Aggregation, combines the two wired connections between the SB8200 and Link Aggregation capable router to achieve Internet speed up to 2 Gbps.  It also provides redundancy in case one of the wired connection fails.
• Add IP Address for Internet Service - The 2nd IP address must be subscribed from the cable provider; not all cable providers offer additional IP address for residential service. 
  
  General FAQs: SB8200: Ethernet Ports (force.com)