Sorry I know there have been loads of threads on this, but I really wanna be sure that I understand all this cable, laptop, internet business! In the apartment what does the internet connection look like? Is it something on the wall? If we buy one of these ethernet cable things do you just plug it straight into the wall at one end and your laptop at the other? I've heard people talk about routers - do we need to get one of these before we can plug in? I don't know what the internet capability of my laptop is - under the specs it just says "Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet" - is that ok? I don't think it is wireless though? So mant questions - sorry! I hope someone can help explain this to me in a paint by numbers fashion! from Beth xxxx
Hi Beth, Obviously i've not been to commons so don't know for sure but from what I understand there is ethernet connection available in each room. If your laptop has an ethernet port available (and most do these days) the easiest way for me to describe it would be a hole that looks similar to a phone socket on your computer (its slightly bigger than UK phone sockets, and is square not rectangular). You may have 2, it'll be the larger of the 2 (the small one is for your modem which you won't need at the commons). As for an Ethernet cable, then yes this is what you will need to connect to the internet. Don't pay much for one, they are cheap to make, I would have thought a couple of pounds at the most! I've made them in the past but don't have the kit to make one for you anymore. Yes all you would do is plug one end into the wall and the other into the computer. As for a router... Well it depends how many ethernet ports are in each room, if there is only 1 and you all want to be able to access the internet, then yes you will need one of these! Basically all it is (in its very simplest form) is a device that you plug into the ethernet port, and it splits the connection so you can all use it (it does a lot more, but thats irrelevant), and you then just plug your ethernet cable into the router instead of the wall. You could also end up with a wireless router, if you have one of these, you could buy a wireless adapter for your laptop and connect to the internet without any wires at all, you can buy those nowadays from £20 at PC world. I hope thats helped and i've not confused you more Colin
I think there's a port for each roomate...well we have 4 and there's four ports so I guess it would be one for each person in the other apartments... don't quote me on that though!
Thank you guys that is most helpful! You have really cleared things up for me Colin cheers!! And I hope you hear soon about your interview results! from Beth xxxx
theres one box in one room, the living room, not in bedrooms etc, with about 5 ports, u just plug from wall to laptop
