Would love to connect my Desktop Mac's and 360 via Ethernet but the port in the wall by them isn't for cable or ethernet, slightly smaller than ethernet, not sure what it is.
Going to sound stupid, what is an Access Point? (New to Networking)
If you can help me, no places to plug ethernet in near my computer. Have 3 slightly smaller than ethernet plugs in the wall but thats it.
To use ethernet, you have to run your own wires. If you live in an apartment, you will wind up taping wires around the baseboards of rooms to avoid damage. If you live in your own home, by all means poke a hole in the plaster wall and fish a wire through to the next room. Going from 802.11n to gigabit ethernet is a huge speed boost. It doesn't do anything for internet speeds, which are typically in the 2 to 20 megabit range, but it does wonders for copying large files from one computer to another.
When I lay out how to wire ethernet, I pick computers that are physically close to one another. For those in the same room, it's a no-brainer. I simply run ethernet wires around the edge of the room to a single gigabit switch and those machines are now talking directly. Of course I also need a wire from the gigabit switch to the router. BTW, ethernet wire is available at Home Depot, Microcenter, Best Buy, etc. It consists of 8 pairs of wires with large 8 pin telephone-looking "RJ-45" plugs on each end. When both ends are plugged in and working, little green and sometimes yellow LEDs flicker next to where you plugged the cable in so you know right away that it's working (on most devices).
Here is a quick diagram:
Code:
internet <-> dsl or cablemodem <-> router <-> switch <-....-> clients
Clients includes computers, printers, internet-ready tv's, NAS drives, and "access points". Access points are cheaper routers that offer the ability to do only one thing: provide wifi connections to whatever network they are plugged in to. They typically only have one ethernet port. Some routers have setup options to convert them into access points.
Apple Airport Express is just such a router. Dlink makes several. The one I use is Dlink Dap-1522. I have two of them at opposite ends of the house. One is under the family room in the basement and the other is high on the second floor at the opposite end of the house. I walked around the house using wifi-analyzer to prove to myself that using these locations eliminated all wifi dead spots in my house. Of course I had to run an ethernet wire up to the second floor through a cold air return for the upstairs access point and I had to run ethernet across the basement ceiling to the other access point. I have a guest network served up by an Apple Airport Extreme that really only reaches the first floor. That's where all the guests are anyway.
Another thing to consider is a faster 802.11AC router if you don't want to spend time dealing with running wires around. The only problem is, very few devices know how to speak AC so most of your devices will still be running at whatever speed they are running on your current router.
OOPS! I got all focused on the tech details. What about your network is slow? Copying files around or internet? It could be you spend time and money "fixing" your network when the real problem was your internet connection. If your 'net connection is slow, there might be something wrong with either your modem or your router. If your internet is slow, contact your ISP first before you spend any money "fixing" things.
Good old RJ-11! (Ethernet is RJ-45).