I will keep it simple, but it may take more than one update.
For normal "wired" broadband the phone cable comes into your house, then into a modem, then via a cable to your PC or laptop.
If you want to have more than one person using your wired broadband connection you can buy something called a ROUTER.
This plugs into your modem and then can have a number of PCs or laptop plugged into it, in effect splitting the internet connection two 2 or more PCs.
Here is a picture of a WIRED router. You can see the sockets where the various PCs or laptops plug in.
http://www.ezlister.net/Images/ba3/img_3835.jp g
So to sum up for a WIRED connection
It goes MODEM - WIRE - ROUTER - WIRE - PCS or LAPTOPS
Enf of update 1