10/100 Ethernet Card.

[davmail]

Hi,
I have a 10/100 ethernet card on my Pc, Winxp.home.edit.Could someone please tell me what is it for, and what can I do with it??As it shows up on my taskbar as an Local Area connection network cable unplugged!!Any info would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.

 

[Rootz]

Ehthernet is used to
1. connect two computers directly,
2. connect more computers through a hub or router
3. connect to broadband internet services in some cases

10 to 100 (MBS) refers to the data transfer speed of the card

the icon you see lights up like a dialup connection icon when a cable is attached to the ethernet port, if not you'll see a red *X* on it (as you report)
if you do not have any of the above needs you can disable that taskbar tray icon or the ethernet connection itself through the *local area network* properties (START-->Connections)

 

[DeviLduck]

This would be used to create a network of computers, e.g., with a Router & modem. Very useful if you have DSL or ISDN, where you can network other computers to your DSL line or ISDN line & the Router acts as the BEST firewall protection you can have.

My sys is a Gigabyte 8IHXP mobo, with a built-in 10/100 Ethernet (RealTek) device, which takes the place of a card & frees up a PCI slot. I use a LinkSys router & dsl modem to connect.

When you are plugged in, the icon shows detailed info about your connection, & active when connected. When not active, there will be an X on the icon. If you aren't using the card, just remove it from your computer, delete the LAN icon in Network Connections dialog.

If you have DSL, I'd advise you to set up the network card & router, even if only connecting on a single computer, as this give you built-in hardware security, in addition to software security you may be using.

 

[davmail]

Thank-You for your replies, very helpful.I do have a ADSL broadband connection via a USB Fujitsu modem, can I route this via the ethernet card??Or is it neccesary to do this?Cheers.

 

[Rootz]

no I don't think you can unless your modem has an ethernet plug in the back. anyway it's not necessary to have an ethernet link to the network. USB will do for any DSL connection, USB supports speed from 2 to 54 MBS and I don't think you can have more than 2 MBS of broadband connection available.
If you are an experienced user you would notice that an ethernet connection to the internet can be far more secure than USB but there's little you can do about this if you use an USB modem (should rely on a router).

what you can do is connect another computer through the available ethernet and share the USB broadband connection between both computers.

 

[DeviLduck]

If you wanted to set up a network of 1 to 4 computers, & have a hardware firewall with PPPoE built-in, you'd do the following:

1. Get a LinkSys BEFSR41 Router (4 ports), external.
2. dsl line connects to dsl modem, line from modem connects to Linksys, lines from Linksys connect to each computer.
3. Since PPPoE is built-in to Linksys, you don't need adsl software or WinXP software, to configure. Instead, your Linksys has its own LAN address, & configured through Linksys web page.
4. The Linksys configurator gives you many advanced options.
5. A networked system setup is also useful for file & printer sharing, when transferring data from one machine to another.
6. Wireless network setups are available, but I still prefer the wired ones for now.


If you're happy with your setup & security, only want to connect 1 computer, then stay with it. You do not need the network card for this, as I assume your current broadband setup doesn't require a network card connection.

 

[davmail]

Brilliant Help!

Thank-you both for all your help,I now know what to do with it, and it may be useful to link another PC.Once again, many thanks.Dave.