If you borrowed your friend's modem that work for him and the cable company in your area is the same that he uses it may be able to connect depending on whether your ISP filters your line of the cable modem frequencies if you do not pay for a cable modem subscription package. Plug the coax cable into a cable outlet and plug the electrical wire in and give it 10 minutes to see if it comes online. If it doesn't then forget about it, unless you want to find the cable co. box and take out the filter. This is usually either a light green box in the yard or atop a nearby electrical pole. You may need a Torx screwdriver but usually a philips will do fine. If it does come online, you can plug the ethernet cable into the computer and keep the IP settings on automatic. Give it an extra few minutes after the modem comes online to be able to access the internet. If the internet is inaccessible, point your browser to 192.168.100.1 and see what it says. This address may vary with certain cable modems. But really, just go to your friends house with a CD-R.