The router is good bet, but have you tried this first?
- Plug the XP, 98, and cable modem all into the network hub
- Re-run the network wizard on XP
- Run the new setup disk on 98
If it still won't work, then I'd look into the Internet Settings for the 98 machine, to manually tell it to look at the LAN for the internet. But the use of a router is always the best bet.
Yes, I did that a bunch of times this afternoon. And my Win98 machine is configured for internet on the LAN (it was working fine when I had a shared dial-up connection).
I think I'll bite the bullet and go with the router. I like the idea of "cloning" the MAC address to the router. That should do it and provide a nice firewall in the process.