John L. Hawkins's picture

Connecting via Ethernet cable

Good question. The Music Bridge, while called "wireless", also has a standard Ethernet jack. To connect it wirelessly, connect an Ethernet CAT5 cable from the Music Bridge to your home network.

To do this requires that you have a router that also has additional LAN ports (often called a hub or switch), or a separate hub/switch that gives you additional ports.

If you don't have this, I recommend adding a switch to your network because it gives you flexibility to connect additional devices. If you're lucky you can buy a 5-port switch for as little as $10, and an 8-port for $20, or maybe double that at some places.

However, if you have just one PC, no local network or other computers/devices, and you simply want to connect the PC to the Music Bridge, you can do it by running a cable between their Ethernet ports.

However, this is a direct connection, which not all devices can detect and handle; I don't know about the Music Bridge.

You probably need to use a special "crossover" Ethernet cable to make a direct connection without having a switch in-between. This cable has one plug wired with reversed polarity.

You'll have to track one down at an electronics store -- a crossover cable is often colored orange or sports a big tag identifying the special wiring, important since it won't work in any other situation. Or you can make one if you have the parts, tools and wiring info, though attaching RJ-14 connectors to CAT5 cable is not fun!

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