A Router's Ethernet Ports Explained

0:00 Intro
0:24 Ethernet ports on a router
0:56 WAN ethernet port explanation
1:44 How to connect to the WAN port
3:19 LAN ethernet ports explanation
4:03 How to connect to the LAN ports
6:01 Summary

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You can find two different types of ethernet ports on a router:
-WAN port: a router’s WAN (wide area network) port is used to provide the router with a connection to the internet. In other words, this ethernet port is used to connect a modem with an active internet connection to the router. This allows the router to broadcast the internet connection it receives from a modem over a wireless network. This is what makes WiFi possible in your home.

-LAN ports: most router’s come with four LAN (local area network) ports. These ethernet ports are meant to provide devices with a wired connection to the internet. Wired internet connections are more reliable than wireless internet connections, and they also experience less latency. This means that wired internet connections are useful for applications where a strong connection and limited delay is desired (like during online gaming and video streaming over Skype or Zoom).

Standard configuration:
-The majority of routers will have one WAN port and four LAN ports. The four LAN ports are identical, and it doesn’t matter which one is used to provide a device with a wired internet connection; All devices will have the same internet experience regardless of the LAN port it’s connected to.

Conclusion:
If you have any questions about your router’s ethernet ports, please leave a comment below, or check out the blog post I linked to above for more information.

[_Rvby.]

About to have a presentation on how to use WAN.. Big thanks for explaining it clearly!

[jimrhodes]

From an old guy.... Thank you.. I'm getting ready to work from home and need to set up an office in my den and wasn't sure if what port to use and if I could use more than one LAN ports as I will have 2 pc's wired up from my router. Also wanted to make sure LAN (yellow port) was OUTGOING internet . You've answered my questions. Again, thanks so much. Oh, and Go Wildcats! :)

[jaimerwallings]

Simple and easy to understand thanks so much ❤

[dorothyedge]

Google assistant brought me here. I'm considering getting a Roku doorbell and it said the base is attached to the ethernet ; didn't know what they were talking about. Lol thank you.

[w.harrison]

The wifi SSID creates a network, but are the four ethernet ports considered on that network?

[engrlapuk]

Can i use the wireless Internet while using the lan cable at the same time? Because there's more than 4 devices in the room

[joshpit]

Thanks for the video. Is it possible to setup / configure one of the LAN ports (for example Port #3) to be a guest-network?
That way I could run ethernet from that port, to another router, allowing a guest the use of both wired and wireless connection to a guest-network.

[arghomajumdar]

My ethernet port is not connecting with the cpu. In fact it is not making a click sound after entering. Please help

[GCbfan]

Not super Internet savvy, so I'd appreciate some explanation on something. I have a modem/router combo provided to me by my ISP. My modem has 1 WAN port and 4 LAN ports. I just bought a new WiFi 6e compatible router to hook up to my modem. Using an ethernet cable, I plugged one end to the modem's WAN port and the other end to the Router's WAN port. This didn't allow internet functionality on my router, so I switched the Modem's end from the WAN port to one of the LAN ports, and then the router's internet proceed to work. My question is, what is the purpose of the WAN port on the Modem?

[Overfly]

Sorry for the comments but i have been trying to connect my Ethernet cord to my router but its like it's not in and its not registering that its there any idea what it could be?

[sunsparkle]

Are those 4 Ethernet LAN ports, technically, ports on a switch that is part of this router? Also, if I connect more 2 or more computers to these LAN ports, will they transfer information to each other without my consent? I ask, because if one of the computers got malware on it, I wouldn't want the other computers to get this malware if they are all connected to the Ethernet ports on the same router. An answer would be most appreciated. Thank you sir.

[rwdsdux]

I have cable internet and tried extending my service to my grandparents houses because they set too far from the road to get decent service. I set up a wireless bridge to their main house and their guest house. Essentially I have the wireless bridges connected to the ethernet ports off my router. The guest house works no problem but the main house won't connect to internet. Any ideas what the problem could be? I can ping the main house receive antenna so I know the bridge is connected. Can you help?

[bwiiyoo]

so i cant connect wlan port to pc? what is the difference if i connect it to lan port?

[jf]

I was told never to use the first LAN port by my internet installer. I have never heard of this, is there a case where this is true?

[chrisferrell]

Have a question for you about the Internet/WAN port - how is it electrically or programmatically (in the firmware of the router I assume) different from the LAN ports, because it clearly is. I used a wireless router essentially as a wireless access point when I program PLCs in factories. My PC has the PLC programming software on it, and having that connection be wireless lets me walk all around the machine and be online with the PLC so I can see what the machine is doing. I connect a cable from one of the WAN ports on the router into one of the ports on the unmanaged switch that the PLC is connected to. One time, I made this connection between the unmanaged switch and the router by plugging into the WAN port on the router side. I wasn't able to reach any of the devices, including the PLC, from my PC. As soon as I moved the connection from the WAN port to a LAN port, it worked again. Can you explain?

[wuxhfcq]

what if i connect the laptop to the modem?

[Fidha__________]

I did all this. Now the wifi is showing no ip allocation

[ZRE_]

This video is so pointless he is just telling everyone what it says on the back page f the router lmao if you can read you don’t need this video hahahaha