2 names enabled

Win 7
With both of these enabled, which is the one for connection to my printer and laptop and which is the conection for the web?
1- wireless network connection
2- local area connection.

I think I just found my answer;
local basically is a connection from the pc directly to the server via the wall cable while wireless is just that, it connects your pc to your printer and laptop.
Open for criticism if necessary.

 

This isn't correct. By default, Windows will use the fastest connection available, based upon the Automatic Metric feature:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299540

So, in the most likely home scenario today, a wired Ethernet connection will run at 100 Mbps, and a WiFi connection will run at 54Mbps (Wireless G).

This being the case, all network traffic will travel over the wired Ethernet connection in preference to the WiFi connection, by default.

Replace Wireless G with full Wireless N, whose theoretical bandwidth is 600 Mbps, and it would be preferred over 100 Mbps wired Ethernet.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n

Replace 100Mbps wired Ethernet with 1Gbps wired Ethernet, and Windows will use that over WiFi N.

You can override these by adjusting the metrics, but this generally isn't needed, nor advisable.

Note: Some WiFi-capable printers, such as those made by Brother, use Windows drivers to create a special network adapter that establishes a point-to-point connection between the computer and the printer. In this case, the automatic metrics are ignored, and the WiFi connection is always used, regardless.

However, in the absence of such, the general rule is that the fastest connection will be used first.

Regards,

dj

 

Hi DJ I have 'N' with the Belkin router and use WPA 2 with aes etc
You could put my knowlegde of wireless etc in a thimble, or smaller; however. you seem to be proficient.

In layman's terms, first, am I set up safely and secondly are you simply saying that
1-the two connections I refer to in my first post are the ones that will be picked first for internet connectivity and speed and
2-they have nothing to do with the printer as it has its own network initiated in the printer(HP)
I am trying to understand the difference between local and wireless as stated in my original post in simple terms if possible.
Thank you for your reply but it was too hard for me to grasp.

 

There isn't enough information to fully answer your question.

If you have an ethernet cable from your computer to the wall, your are correct, Local Area Connection is the wired connection to the hub, switch, router or modem.

It used to be that the most common connection for a home printer was to attach it with a usb cable. Now wireless printers are very common. If your laptop and printer are connected via wireless, you still don't need wireless enabled to use them. Your wired connection to the network is the connection that is being used to communicate with them.

 

Is there a place where a prntscrn would help you know if I am wired correctly?


The isp cable goes to the modem and an ethernet cable goes from the from the modem to the router. Another ethernet cable connects the router to the desktop.
My router communicates with my laptop.

I do have a homegroup to share files now and then.

I do not know what makes the printer work wirelessly.

I was hoping I don't have anything wireless enabled unecessarily.

If you have done your best so far, that is ok and thank you

 

it sounds like you are looking for this answer:

You may disable the wireless on your computer and not lose connection to the laptop or the printer.

Is that what you are trying to determine? That's your answer, your computer is talking to everything via the wired connection, you may disable the wireless.

 

Hi,

From a network perspective, wired connections are always safer than wireless ones.

Even if the printer is purely wireless, you can still print to it from the wired computer on your network, as handygal has already pointed out.

If you are worried about using the printer wirelessly, you can connect it to your network via wire, too, assuming that it has a wired Ethernet interface, you can run a cable to it and your router has a free port to which to connect it.

At that point, the only wireless computer on your network would be the laptop.

Regards,

dj

 

I think I am finally getting it and handygal has it right.
Please bear with me and tell me what to disable, please. There are different places where to look.
Thank you

 

If you see the icon for the wireless in the taskbar, right click and choose Disable. If you don't see it there you can go to your network connections, right click the wireless and disable it. There are different places to find it but they all do the same thing. Once you disable it in one place, you're all set.