1. Ethernet, hands down. That whole USB "networking" confection was a kludge that somebody dreamed up in 1995 to make the new "does everything" USB port do something worthwhile besides print. Back then, consumer-grade systems rarely had an ethernet port, as that was an enterprise feature. You didn't say which Surfboard you have, but if it has both USB and ethernet, get it off the USB and onto the ethernet. If it has USB only, get a new one with real ethernet.
2. If your computer has a PS/2 mouse port, get a PS/2 mouse (or use the USB-to-PS/2 adapter that came with the mouse. Now your camera has nothing to fight with.
dw
p4 (NO hyperthreading)2.8ghz
windows xp home +SP2
224 mb ram
motorola surfboard usb modem
VIA fast ethernet adapter
c-media AC97 audio device
s3 graphics pro-savage ddr
ok, two questions,
1 which is better ethernet or usb?
2 i have a usb mouse and the modem connected at the moment with usb but if i plug in my camera my mouse crashes and wont move. I can simply plug it back in and it works for a while but if i un plug the camera the problem goes away.

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