Hubs are pretty simple devices, they just let you share connections between an existing connection. They don't however do much else and cable modems typically use DHCP to allocate a single internet address - which hubs know nothing about. So you need a router of some description instead of a hub.
The NetGear ones are pretty good and come with wireless options, etc. plus they are easy to configure via a web page that you connect to. So most folks plug their NetGear into the cable modem, the NetGear takes the external IP address and you plug your PC's into the network either by a direct connection or by a wireless connection.
The internal network (i.e. from the inside of the router) is typically something like 192.168.168.x or 192.168.1.2 These addresses form part of a special category so that if they leak out onto the actual Internet they just get ignored.
The only issue I have with NetGear is that their performance is actually slower than a dedicated PC, I think because their embedded CPU is not overly fast. I've replaced one with a dedicated Linux box and got an unexpected performance boost. However you need to be Linux type-rated
Also, make sure you upgrade the firmware to the latest on the NetGear. They have done quite a few bugfixes on some of the models.
The Arrow