What is an Ethernet Card and Why do you need one?

An Ethernet card is used to create a home network when you have more than one computer and want to communicate between them; or to connect to the same internet connection (ISP, internet service provider).

Home networking is very popular to take advantage of high speed cable connections without the added cost of multiple cable accounts.

Ethernet Definition: An Ethernet is layered data technology that is used to create and maintain local area networks.

For decades now, Ethernet has proven to be the most popular and least expensive networking solution for businesses. Ethernet technology allows Ethernet products like cards and cables to plug into it so that two or more computers can be networked together.

How It Works

To connect Ethernet cables to a computer, a person normally uses a network adapter, also known as a network interface card.

Ethernet cards then talk directly to the computer's internal system and the cables, in turn, use connectors (like the ones used with modern telephones) to transfer data to the next computer.

Once you know that you want a computer network set up in your home or office, then you need to learn how to put it all together.

What kind of cables do you need? What kind of tools? Do you need a degree in computing? The answer to the last question is very definitely no as networking is fairly straightforward.

If you're networking two or more computers, you will need two or more Ethernet network adapters and some Ethernet crossover cables. You can also use the hub method to network two computers if you like.

Types Of Ethernet Cards & Adapters

Ethernet Network Adapters come in USB, PCI, and PC Card (for laptops) versions. PCI adapters are faster and less expensive, but you would need to open your computer to install them.

You may prefer to use a USB to Ethernet adapter as these quite easily plug into an USB port on your computer so the setup is quite efficient. It is important that you bear in mind that the speed of the USB port limits the speed of the Ethernet adapter, which is usually 12Mbps.

Connecting between computers is done with Ethernet cables which have ends on them called RJ-45 connectors.

The quality of the cable is determined by the CAT rating, the most common of which is CAT5. One warning though - don't buy Ethernet cable in bulk unless you have the required tools to put the RJ-45 ends on yourself because you will need a full computer crimping kit to be able to do this.

For just two networking computers, you will also need an Ethernet crossover cable. The most common form of traditional Ethernet crossover cable is 10Base-T. 10Base-T uses UTP (unshielded twisted pair) wiring rather than coaxial.

10Base-T has proven to be more cost effective than alternatives. But when more than two computers are networked, you will need an Ethernet HUB or Ethernet SWITCH in order to get them to all talk to one another.

I used the Hub method to set up an Ethernet network in my home. Not because I wanted to communicate between the computers, although you can, but because it allowed me to set up multiple computers with the same broadband cable connection saving me a lot of monthly fees to the cable company.

The initial investment involved buying the Hub router; the cabling and a USB Ethernet card ; two of the computers had an Ethernet card installed already, but the third computer was older so I went with the USB Ethernet card for that one.

It took less than 2 hours to hook everything up, including running the cable through the house. The majority of time was in running the cable and then setting up the various IP’s through the router service; after that it was simple and quick.

Another method you can use, that would require a lot less cable is Wireless Networking, you can read more about Wireless Networking and how to do it here.




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