Windows 7 A question about wireless internet connecting

[trog69]

I just received a wireless router, the Linksys EA3500. It has 4 ethernet connections, for connecting printers, cameras, etc. to the network. This might be a dumb question, but can a laptop also connect to the internet via one of these ethernet plug-ins? I have a gaming pc and just purchased a gaming laptop, and the gaming is in one room, thus not necessarily needing the wireless extension. If it can, would the connection via the ethernet be better in terms of connection speed?

Also, a bit off-topic, though relevant, I have some cat6 cables, and I found that trying to use one to connect my PC to a switch was not successful, though it worked fine with a cat5. Is the cat6 not compatible, or did I perhaps just get a bad cable?

 

[Jimbo22]

Your connection speed is based on what your ISP provides you which is seperate from data transfer speed. Which is what the routers set up for, data transfer. It depends on the router it self as to what data transfer speeds you can get. Some have 10/100 (100mbps) ethernet ports and others use 10/100/100 (1gig) ethernet ports. On the wireless side of the routers you have wireless G at 54mbps and wireless N which has various data transfer speeds starting at 150mbps to 300mbps and the newer ones that are hitting the market are in the 900mbps to 1300mbps.

Cat6 cables are desiged to work with gigabit (10/100/100) ports to see the full potential. Not sure why it didn't work as they are supposed to be backwards compatible. It may have something to do with the switch it self and how it's set up. Also a switch won't work unless it connected to a wired/wireless router.

 

[trog69]

Thanks for the quick response, bassfisher. This is the router. Are you saying that I can connect the laptop, or possibly both the PC and the laptop directly to the router, rather than relying on a wireless signal? That would be great, I think, unless the ethernet ports are somehow speed restricted.

The switch was connected to a wired cable router/modem. But only one PC was able to get a signal via going through the switch, and it didn't matter which one, as long as it was connected first. I guess I could try and connect them both first, and then connect the switch to the cable modem. The cable company was unfamiliar with this setup but said that it would likely only recognize one IP address.

All I know is that I now have a switch and a wireless gigabit router, so I hope that somehow I can connect both machines directly. I just don't know much about this stuff.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I was unable to get a connection with just the cable modem-no switch involved-using the cat6 cable, so I had to go back to using the cat5.

 

[Jimbo22]

Thanks for the quick response, bassfisher. This is the router. Are you saying that I can connect the laptop, or possibly both the PC and the laptop directly to the router, rather than relying on a wireless signal? That would be great, I think, unless the ethernet ports are somehow speed restricted.

Yes..you can hard wired them both to the router.

Here is how to set up the connection between your router and a switch.....


Link Removed

 

[trog69]

Thanks again, bassfisher6522. It looks like I can hook up directly. I do not understand what the difference is between the switch shown in the Linksys photo you posted and the one I used, but I was unable to get both PCs working on the one switch, using the same type of connecting described, though mine was a direct connection to the cable modem and not via a wireless router. It still seems like it should work, but I was unable to get a signal in both at the same time. Frustrating.

 

[Jimbo22]

You never mentioned what make and model switch you got.

 

[trog69]

Sorry about that. It's a Trendnet model.

 

[Jimbo22]

What version is it? Version 1.0R has been discontinued and replaced by version 3.0R.

I've not seen the Green line that Trendnet has nor know much about them and the information on setting it up is vague at best. The unit itself could be defective or problematic hence the discontinuation of vs 1.0R. There might be a firmware update for the unit which you could try.

I would suggest getting a different switch, one that has clear and concise instructions on setting and hooking up. I'm partial to the linksys brand but that's just me. I've never had a problem with any of there routers or switches.

 

[trog69]

Thanks bassfisher. Rather than worry about that switch, I'm hoping that I can use the new wireless router's ethernet plugs in a similar manner. I really hate setting up wireless, especially if I can do without it.

 

[Jimbo22]

I felt the exact same way as you did plus the security side of it but eventually I took the plunge and have never looked back. Once you get accustomed to it and setting it up it's really pretty straight forward. Especially with the wireless N, it's pretty fast with data transfers. The key to the wireless side is to make sure you set up the security side of it correctly. There are plenty of tutorials and videos on the subject.

 

[trog69]

Yeah, I'm looking for them as I type. I just had a moment of panic when I thought I'd run out of power sources ( and this is an older house with sub-standard wiring.) until I remembered I had plenty of extra plug-ins on my UPS. hehehe. I'm sure I'll figger it out, and the granddaughter and I will be co-oping in some games shortly.