Re: Elementary newbie question

[Ted <ted99@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rob Morley wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:42:20 +0100
> Ted <ted99@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for all that - very helpful.
> > One last(?) question: Will replacing the wired connection 
> > with a wireless change the settings that applied to the 
> > wired connection, that is, if I decided to abandon the 
> > wireless and revert to the wired connection, would it just 
> > be a matter of plugging in the wired modem again or would 
> > setting up the the wireless connection have changed the 
> > wired connection settings in the process? I am just trying 
> > to understand what's required for a fallback plan.
> Do you mean will it have changed the settings on the laptop?  The
> Ethernet and WiFi interface each have their own settings, so if you
> switch off the wireless hardware (most laptops have a switch on the
> side for this) and plug in a cable it will use that connection.  If
> both are active at the same time I don't think there's an easy way of
> telling which connection will be used, but one or the other will be.

I wasn't clear - I meant the pc. To set up the wireless lan, 
I need to connect the wireless router to the pc via cable in 
place of the cable connection the pc now has to the modem. I 
was wondering what would be entailed in terms of setting 
changes etc if I later wanted to change back from a wireless 
router connected by cable to the pc to a modem connected by 
cable to the pc.

Re your reply above, I had tried connecting the laptop to 
the modem but I couldn't get an internet connection. However 
I wasn't aware there was a wireless switch but I've now 
checked and I see there is and it was 'on' so that probably 
explains why I didn't get a connection (at least I hope it 
does)!

When I turn on the laptop (still as out of the box), I  have 
3 adapters showing in Network Connections:

- Wireless
- 1394
- Local Area Lan (ethernet)

The first 2 are showing as 'connected' (from someone's 
leaking router somewhere) and the last one is showing as 
'unplugged'. I can understand the Wireless and Lan but am 
not clear what the 1394 connection is and why it is showing 
as connected along with the Wireless.

Ted