Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

Making an Ethernet Connection
CHAPTER 9 CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET 165
Prior to Wi-Fi, the most common way to make a high-speed connection was through Ethernet,
and this remains popular today. For a while now, all shipping Apple computers came with builtin
Ethernet capability.
An Ethernet connect is a physical connection where a cable will run from a router or modem
into your computer. Depending on your broadband service and your local area network (LAN)
setup, configuring your connection through Ethernet could be handled automatically through
DHCP or BootP, or the configuration may need to be done manually. Additionally, some service
providers (especially ADSL) use a connection called Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet
(PPPoE) that, while creating a high-speed connection over Ethernet, is configured a bit more like
a dial-up connection.
If you know you need to use PPPoE or configure your network connection manually, then
you can get the proper configuration information from your service provider or administrator.
Otherwise, just plug in the Ethernet cable and turn on your computer; a surprisingly large
amount of the time, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is used and will configure
your network information automatically. To check, take a look in the Network panel in System
Preferences and see whether you are connected (Figure 9-5).
Figure 9-5. This Ethernet connection is configured and connected automatically using DHCP.
If the little bubble next to the connection in the left column of the Network preference pane
is green, then your connection is successful. If it is yellow, then the computer detects that a cable
is plugged in, but there is problem with either the physical connection or the configuration. If the
bubble is red, then that service is not currently connected.
If DHCP doesn’t work, then you will need to choose another way to configure your network.
The configuration drop-down provides a list that includes the following: