What Is The LAN Port On Your TV For? Here's When To Use It

Televisions have gone through quite the transformation since they found their way into our homes decades ago. The technology has transformed, and not just from tube televisions and console TVs to modern OLED displays. How we connect accessories to our TVs has changed as well. You may not be old enough to remember coaxial cables, but it's a safe bet your parents or grandparents still have a TV somewhere in the house that uses component cables. Today, most modern televisions boast several different types of ports, including HDMI and LAN ports.

Each type of cable or port has a different function. HDMI is primarily used to connect devices to a television, like game consoles and Blu-Ray players. LAN stands for local area network. The LAN port is used to connect your TV to internet networking devices such as routers and modems. This creates a wired connection between your TV and a local network, often your home internet, rather than wirelessly connecting your television. If your TV does not have a LAN port, check your streaming device. If it has a LAN port, you can use it to connect your streaming device to your router. However you plan to use it, a LAN port typically provides a more reliable connection than a wireless one.

Using the LAN port to connect your TV to the internet provides a more stable and dependable connection than a wireless link. This wired connection uses Ethernet technology to transmit and receive data packets over the network. It tends to be faster than a wireless connection because it supports higher data transfer speeds and has less interference. To connect to your TV's LAN port, you'll need an Ethernet cable, also known as a network cable. These cables, which may remind you of the telephone cables we use for landlines, come in several categories depending on the data transfer speed. The type of cable you'll need depends on your internet speed, but a category 5 or category 6 cable is typically suitable for home use.

It should be relatively easy to connect to your TV's LAN port. Once you acquire the proper cable, find the port on the TV and connect one end of the Ethernet cable. Then connect the other end to your internet router and confirm the connection in your television's settings. The maximum distance between your router and the TV will depend on the length of your cable.

You can also use a LAN port to connect a streaming device. If you don't have a smart TV and are using a streaming device with a LAN port, you can connect the device directly to your router for better streaming without buffering or other interruptions. Not all streaming devices have LAN ports, however, so be sure to check before purchasing.