3 Mbps is probably the high speed service he will be paying for. 3 Mbps is the maximum, not the minimum they will provide. In other words when you pay for a 3 Mbps service you are really getting less than 3 Mbps. That's just the way it is. You don't pay for a guaranteed minimum, you pay for a guaranteed maximum. Pretty stupid, but that's how most of them do it.
A 1.5 Mbps service is usually sufficient for gaming.
PS3 does allow you to manually configure the internet connection. You can assign IP's etc. I setup the Linksys router per different online instructions. I couldn't get my PS3 to stay connected when playing Rockstar Games. All other games were fine though. Now I have it hooked up as I described above and its been working flawless.
Yes you can plug your PS3 directing into you modem as you would your PC. If you have more than one item you want on your internet connection at the same time you will want a hub, router or both.
