So you can take advantage of the Ethernet port of your router if you do not use it

Although wireless networks are much more present today than they were a few years ago, you still have the option of using a network cable. We are going to tell you what you can do with it ethernet port What does your router have? Depending on the model, you can have one port, two, four… In addition, they can be Gigabit or Fast Ethernet. You will notice the difference in speed, since Gigabit means that it reaches up to 1 Gbps symmetric, while Fast will be limited to a maximum of 100 Mbps.

If you like make the most of your connection, using the network cable can be a good option. You will have greater stability, fewer coverage problems and, ultimately, you will be able to connect devices without being so aware of whether the signal arrives well or not. The problem is that, in many cases, the Ethernet port is not used and is not used well.

How to take advantage of the Ethernet port

maybe you have some router ethernet port unused. Maybe you have everything connected by Wi-Fi and don’t think too much about connecting something by cable. But you will see that it can be interesting to improve your connection and even connect other devices without using the wireless network.

Connect a NAS

The first thing you can do is connect a NAS server. You can plug it into the Ethernet port of your router and thus be able to access the files from anywhere, simply by having Internet access. Very useful for creating backup copies, saving mobile storage space or exchanging files. There are many NAS servers on the market. However, we recommend that you choose very carefully which one best suits what you need. You can look at what features it has, the storage and the options it has to connect from other places.

Although the NAS can be connected via Wi-Fi (with the corresponding WiFi card in the NAS) to the router, it is best to use an Ethernet network cable and use a port on the router for it. The minimum speed that we will achieve in the local network is 1Gbps, although if you have a router with Multigigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, you could achieve a speed of up to 10Gbps, although this will depend on both the router and the NAS. Only high-end NAS have this type of 10GBASE-T port, so entry-level and mid-range models will only have Gigabit and 2.5G Multigigabit connectivity respectively.

Avoid using Wi-Fi when you can

Another reason to use the router’s Ethernet port is avoid using Wi-Fi when it’s really possible. You will not have to connect a computer or television wirelessly, which can mean that there are interferences and problems that affect the speed of the network. If you have an Ethernet cable and an available port, you will be able to connect these devices via cable. You will see that the quality of the signal increases, you will have more stability and fewer problems connecting your devices to the Internet. You can use all kinds of devices, as long as they are compatible.

A very important aspect of WiFi networks is that the more devices you connect to the wireless network, the slower it will become because these devices will generate network traffic, even when they are on standby. For this reason, the best thing you can do is “download” the wireless network, connecting as many devices as you can to the wired network. In this way, devices that only have WiFi connectivity will benefit from not having so many devices connected.

Have a VPN with another router

An option that you can have available, as long as you have a compatible router, is to connect it to the main one to have a VPN. You can do it if, for example, you have an old router at home that you are not using. You can connect it to the main one and configure it to act as a VPN server. This is useful to connect from public networks, for example, and encrypt the connection. Also when you are traveling in another country and want to continue browsing with your home IP, to be able to view streaming content without restrictions or use some applications that may be blocked elsewhere.

Typically, your home router already incorporates this functionality, however, the routers of the operators do not have this feature, you will have to buy a router from manufacturers such as ASUS, AVM, QNAP, Synology or D-Link among other manufacturers, and make sure they have the VPN from OpenVPN and WireGuard. This latest VPN protocol will allow us to achieve the best transfer rates for both download and upload, with the aim of making it work as quickly as possible. In addition, something that we would also like to highlight about WireGuard is its low latency, and the connection roaming it has, with the aim of not having to establish the connection again.

Improves the network when using PLC

You can even get to improve the network. We are not just talking about connecting a LAN cable and taking it to another area of the house, but also the option of connecting PLC devices. You are going to connect one of them to the router, in addition to electricity. Therefore, it is another use that you can give to that Ethernet port. In this way, the connection will better reach different areas of the house. You will be able to connect without problems, even if you are further away from the router. Ideal for eliminating dead zones and places where there may be interference and the Wi-Fi network works worse.

One aspect to take into account is that in new homes we have several differentials in the electrical panel. This causes the performance of the PLCs to be seriously affected, since the PLC device will lose 20% of its speed when going through these differentials. It is best to place the main PLC and the supplementary one within the same differential, so as not to have this loss of speed, but in many cases this is not possible.

As you can see, you can use the router ethernet port. What we have mentioned are just a few examples. You can connect many devices and have greater stability than if you connect through Wi-Fi. You can do it on any router, as long as it has these types of ports.