But yes you can plug 4 computers to the back of the modem if its a verizon Westell and if its cox, they only have 1 port cause they want you to buy a router from them but thats an easy fix too and will allow you to go wireless and on a laptop thats a nice feature to have. The other question I dont know but my two daughters bot just received a mini and if no one answers I will ask them (they live at Moms)