Safe ICT NZ
Safe Information and Communications Technology for New Zealand
Summary
I. Check what ports and operating system you have
2. Buy cables and converter/adaptor (and clips and protective conduit)
4. Plugin the cables and converter, and allow the drivers
to wake up the LAN.
7. Go onto the internet and uncheck your router's WiFi
Most desktop devices are designed to connect to the internet via LAN/Ethernet cable. Modern laptops and other devices need an adaptor. Whether your device is a Thinkpad, an iPad, a MacBook, Ultrabook or Wii, WiiU or Android phone or tablet, etc it can usually be changed to wired fairly easily.
Note: You can turn off wireless external communications drivers on a HP solid-state laptop but you cannot turn off the internal wireless of a Hewlett Packard Solid-state computer. One measured emitted 0.5 Milliwatt/m2. Computers with Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) drive do not have this problem.
1. Check your device for:
A. What sort of ports are available to you to plug into
B. What operating system you are using
Ports: If it has an Ethernet/LAN place to plug in (port) you are good to go. Otherwise, you need to use a converter to adapt your USB or lightning port to a LAN/Ethernet port. Note the USB type. (USB types: USB A, B, C, micro or mini and extended and numbers like 3.0)
Operating system:
Note the operating system (ie Window 10, macOS 10.X) because you want a converter/adaptor to match the operating system.
* If you are having trouble figuring this out just look up the specs of your device online.
2. Figure out the distance you want to cover with your cable/s.
3. Buy your cables and converter (also recommended are cable clips, and conduit/cable-guard).
Cables: You need LAN/Ethernet cables.
These are cables that look a bit fatter or wider than a phone cable (because they have six wires instead of four) but otherwise, they look similar. It is their foil lining that keeps the electromagnetic radiation inside the cable and you safe. You can buy 20 metres of CAT cable for under NZ$ 40.00.
Eek, what do the names mean? Which type do I get?
Categories:
CAT 5, CAT5e. CAT 6, CAT 7. cables will all be fine. CAT refers to a category, which really means which generation of cable it is. These days you want category 5, or category 5 enhanced or category 6 cables, or even future-proof with category 7.
CAT 5 cable can transfer lots (one hundred megabits per second, or a feature film in 2 minutes) and
CAT 6 is 10x faster,
CAT 7 does 10 gigabits per second so will do you for decades for technology upgrades. Though your Internet provider has to allow your network speed to be high enough to gain from any of this.
Styles available: Flat, round, exterior-grade, woven covered:
Flat cable is available which blends into the background a bit better, and is available in a bunch of colours, and there is even woven/braided nylon covered including 'gold-plated," despite the variety of cables they all have the plugs conforming to the RJ45 standard. Exterior-grade weather-proof cable is needed if you plan to run the cables between buildings. Finally, if you want to get fancy and connect to a jack-in-the-wall you can purchase a cable with pre-connectorised ends splitting into the eight separate wires for easy wiring. It is not essential to get this, and there are YouTube videos showing how to connect to a jack-in-the-wall.
Clips and conduit guard: The cable clips will keep your cable nice and tidy (or you might hot glue down your cables). Conduit guard is great if your cable has to go under the rug and it stops the cable being tripped over. Just as importantly it stops it getting crushed by being rolled over by chairs etc. Get this at hardware stores like Bunnings. You can also get Ethernet-jack-in-a-wall outlets, these will give a nice finish visually, but would require additional equipment to install.
Converters: Get one that matches your USB ports and operating system. These can be purchased from stores such as Jaycar or PBTech for around $50—more for proprietary Mac products. They usually work with a range of operating systems but check.
Windows: Jaycar's Digitech converter works with Windows 2K/XP/Vista/8/8.1/10 and macOS 10.X.
Apple: Apple USB Ethernet Adapter: works with Mac OS X v.10.4.8 or later and USB 2.0
Some come with a plug for several types of USB ports.
4. Route your cables and plug them in
Do not bend, or crimp, or crush the cable. Plug your Ethernet/LAN cable into the ports of your router and converter, and the converters USB çord into the device. (Of course, if your computer has an Ethernet port, plug it straight into that). You can plug into any of the Ethernet ports. Choose the first port, sometimes conveniently labelled ethernet 1 if it is available because the machine looks to that one first.
5. Then turn off the WiFi and blue tooth transmissions of the device
On every computer, laptop, tablet, or WTD, there is a function key that turns OFF the Wi-Fi transmitter. There is also a function key that turns OFF the Bluetooth transmissions—usually a case of unchecking a checkbox or moving a slider button, often there is a physical button on the device that can be used.
6. Power the device off. Then turn it on again to boot up again
If the converter is a plug-and-play kind, the software in the converter should have drivers that are recognised and just "plug-and-play" but it will take a little time to do its thing. Give it time. If it doesn't work it may need to upgrade the drivers. is connected to the Internet you may have to load the drivers of the device.
8. Finally, turn off your router, then turn it on again to get it to reboot itself.
Windows should privilege the ethernet over WiFi.
If it doesn't, make your way to your Network and Sharing Centre and the Advanced settings and select for Ethernet or LAN. IF for some reason the Plug and Play drivers in the converter do not work, you can download the drivers for the converter's website and try again.
If you want to wire the whole house and add all your gizmos
If you then want to connect a pile of gizmos, you will also need an Ethernet Switch. You plug in your Ethernet cable then plug other cables into it—just like the units we use all the time that we plug our power cords into. If you run the Ethernet between buildings, as well as exterior-grade weather-proof cables, you need surge protection.
Electro-sensitive? You may also want to swap your power supply
A power supply with a three-point plug is a better option. This is because the computer/laptop generates static. Without the grounding, static builds up in the system. From time to time you might be able to feel it when you brush your hand against the USB ports of an ungrounded machine—that's the static travelling through you as a ground.
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Going wired: 8 steps
Ethernet or LAN cables give you faster internet speeds, as well as protection from electromagnetic radiation which is kept in the cable by its foil lining, just like juices in a foil-covered roast are kept in.
To turn off your WiFi router, you need to log into your account and look for Wireless (or similar) on the menu
You can use your USB port to connect to the Ethernet with a converter
Ethernet/LAN ports look like this.
7. Now you need to turn off the *router's WiFi.
*Router: the box with plugs that the copper or fibre cable plugs into.
Unless you can just turn it off, either:
Ring your provider and ask them to turn off the WiFi for your router, or give you the instructions to do it yourself online. If you have two frequencies of WiFi, you need to uncheck both frequencies.
or:
You are likely to have all the details you need on the bottom of your router to be able to do it yourself. Look for your
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Internet Protocol (IP) address (It may be something like 192.168.30.1 as opposed to HTTP://...)
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password (gateway)
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login details.
Type the IP address into your web browser. Type in the login details and uncheck the WiFi settings. THEN SAVE THE CHANGES!
You can easily check these back on again if needed.
If you cannot do this, ask your Internet provider for a better service and to provide a different router.
Undoing the WiFi for NetComm Wireless routers is just a matter of logging in and clicking on a checkbox—then SAVING your changes
If you want the WiFi back on it is a simple matter of rechecking the enable box and saving that..
Ethernet switcher or splitter
To run several devices, such as printers, gaming consoles, additional portable computers etc use an Ethernet switch or splitter. Plugin your Ethernet cable and start adding. You can get switches with two, three, five, eight and sixteen ports.
There are fan-less and Energy-Efficient Ethernet/Green Technology protocols as well. With this specification of the technology, the spitter (or router) detects the link status, allowing each port on the switch to power down into a standby mode when a connected device, such as a computer, is not active. Second, it detects cable length and adjusts the power used for transmission accordingly. Backing off the transmit power on shorter cable runs improves the overall performance of the cabling system as well.
