make atmel usb adapter on linux <-communicate-> 2wire 1702hg homeportal ?

Hello.

I ordered SBC/Yahoo! DSL with the Home Networking "bundle"
which turned out to be a 2wire 1701HG wireless/wired router/modem
with 4 ethernet connectors and 1 USB connector.

AFAICT, Linux does not support the USB connection and
I don't have a spare PCI slot for an ethernet NIC, but I do have
an Atmel-based USB adapter with a Linux driver.

My question: Is it possible for me to set up my USB adapter to
communicate with the 2wire 1701HG router/modem on Linux and, if so, how
can I do that?

All helpful suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.