win7 question

[burninbush]

Hi all ... we have a Toshiba laptop here that is more or less permanently attached to the tv and sound system. It seems to have a preference for using the wifi connection over the rj-45 connector. Now I have been experiencing some problems** watching net video that I imagine might be due to the lower wifi bandwidth [54mbps, very good signal strength] vs the 100mbps wired port. What I would like the machine to do is to use the wired port if the cable is plugged in, as a first choice, then default to the wifi, for those times when the laptop goes on the road. Is there a checkbox somewhere to effect that choice? I know how to manually force the choice, but would prefer simpler operation; I'm certain my wife would be defeated by that method. ** for example, watching stuff on the free Hulu.com. Their commercials appear perfect, but there is often smearing of some sort at top and right side of the screen when watching tv programs. Apart from improving the bandwidth I dunno what to do to fix it. I wonder if anybody else has this issue?Edit: occurs to me I should mention that the laptop is connected to the tv using it's VGA connector. Which works fine for playing dvd's and files off the laptop's disk.

Edited September 26, 2011 by burninbush

[crp]

on my laptop (it is a gray box) running win7 , if I have a ethernet cable plugged in it uses that , else it uses the WiFi

[zlim]

If I remember correctly a Toshiba might have a turn off wifi switch on the bottom of the computer.What exact model is it? Some just use function keys.

[striker]

I think what you mean is setting the priority to one of those two 'adapters'. Priority 1 gets selected by default, 2 only when 1 is not available.I'll see where I get documentation for it and post back.Here we are:Go to the network and sharing center, click manage network connections,click 'change adapter setting', in the menu above click Advanced > select Advanced Settings. On the tab Adapters and Bindings, under the Connections field you'll see the available adapters: for ex. Local Area Connection and Wifi. Select the Local Area Connection and with the arrows to the right of the Connection field, place the Local Area Connection (as used in this example) at the top.Click OK and close all other open windows not needed anymore and reboot the machine. That should have set the priority to your Local Area Connection.

[burninbush]

I think what you mean is setting the priority to one of those two 'adapters'. Priority 1 gets Go to the network and sharing center, click manage network connections,click 'change adapter setting', in the menu above click Advanced > select Advanced Settings. On the tab Adapters and Bindings, under the Connections field you'll see the available adapters: for ex. Local Area Connection and Wifi. Select the Local Area Connection and with the arrows to the right of the Connection field, place the Local Area Connection (as used in this example) at the top.

Thanks, I'll try that. @ zlim ... sorry, no hardware button. You can disable it in cmos, in which case it'll then connect to the wired port, but I can't ask my wife to deal with cmos. I think Striker has the better plan.

[crp]

Thanks, I'll try that. @ zlim ... sorry, no hardware button. You can disable it in cmos, in which case it'll then connect to the wired port, but I can't ask my wife to deal with cmos. I think Striker has the better plan.

there are no keys setup to handle power savings, screen brightness, wifi, sound and/or sleep mode? on a Toshiba?? look again for hieroglyphics on keys or buttons, better yet , check out the manuals.

[FuzzButt]

FWIW I would try and just run it wired if possible. WiFi isn't a guaranteed connections and you might be getting lost packets and or signal loss. While VGA is ok I'd try for HDMI if possible. I've hooked up my laptop to my 32" LCD a few times and VGA looks ok but getting the audio to be in sync was a pain.

[burninbush]

FWIW I would try and just run it wired if possible. WiFi isn't a guaranteed connections and you might be getting lost packets and or signal loss. While VGA is ok I'd try for HDMI if possible. I've hooked up my laptop to my 32" LCD a few times and VGA looks ok but getting the audio to be in sync was a pain.

Sadly, I have to use the port I have, which is a VGA 15-pin. Would use hdmi if I had that. Running from the rj45 has not completely solved the problem, but it was worth a try. I am about to conclude this is something Hulu is doing on purpose [or maybe just allowing]; their commercials on the same show come across perfectly. I suppose the commercials are on a different server -- wish I knew if others are having a similar problem. It certainly is not my local ISP -- Comcast is currently giving me 22mbps of download speed. And it's not the video card in the Toshiba -- movies and other video media from hard disk look perfect. The problem I'm seeing is a band of discolored area across the top of the screen, sometimes a similar band across the bottom, and usually a vertical band at the right side of the screen. @ CRP .... yes, the Tosh does have a function key with the wifi symbol, but that does not solve my problem -- it would still have to be manually killed at every use, something else I don't want to have to remember, or to train the machine's other users to operate. Having win7 figure it out at boot time [rearranging the default] is what I'm after. I said 'no' to zlim above thinking of the dedicated kill-wifi button on our HP laptop -- which also has a dedicated button to kill the scratcher pad, very civilized. The buttons even illuminate when active.

[crp]

Sadly, I have to use the port I have, which is a VGA 15-pin. Would use hdmi if I had that. [...]The problem I'm seeing is a band of discolored area across the top of the screen, sometimes a similar band across the bottom, and usually a vertical band at the right side of the screen. [...]

ooh, I got those sometimes. What program are you using to view the video? With me, if it happens with MPC I have to restart the MPC , place the MPC in the tv screen then drag-and-drop to the MPC.With WMP and VLC it usually suffices to turn off the tv for about a minute.

[burninbush]

ooh, I got those sometimes. What program are you using to view the video? With me, if it happens with MPC I have to restart the MPC , place the MPC in the tv screen then drag-and-drop to the MPC.With WMP and VLC it usually suffices to turn off the tv for about a minute.

Ahhh ... well, I use Firefox as a browser, which is how I get to Hulu to view their content. Is there some other way to do it? Don't understand 'MPC' ? Did have an interesting happening yesterday while playing with it; had occasion to pause a video for 15 minutes or so, and when I resumed it the video was perfect for the rest of the 30-minute program. Which makes me think it was getting cached somewhere along the chain? I see Hulu advertising, if I subscribe to their premium service [$8 / month] I can presumably get HD versions of their content -- which would surely fail if it is really a bandwidth issue.

[zlim]

MPC = Media Player Classic

[burninbush]

MPC = Media Player Classic

OK, but I'm lost -- how do I view Hulu content on MPC? That is, www.hulu.com.

[crp]

OK, but I'm lost -- how do I view Hulu content on MPC? That is, www.hulu.com.

I don't do hulu, so do not know if they have their own player which plays video within the browser or if you can use a video player addon of your choosing.

[burninbush]

I don't do hulu, so do not know if they have their own player which plays video within the browser or if you can use a video player addon of your choosing.

I think it's just using Adobe Flash player browser plugin [e.g., the Firefox FlashBlock add-on blocks it]. I see no offer to use a different player. Not sure if it's possible to d/l their content, as they also require you to view their adverts.

[striker]

I think it's just using Adobe Flash player browser plugin [e.g., the Firefox FlashBlock add-on blocks it]. I see no offer to use a different player. Not sure if it's possible to d/l their content, as they also require you to view their adverts.

I don't know Hulu at all, but for downloading videocontent in FF I either use one method of the two below:1. have a look at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ for a 'videodownloader'; See to it Hulu is supported though before trying any of them.2. Back in the days I used FF I also always had cacheviewer (addon) on board. With this one I could have a look into FF cache to see the video and save it to hard disk. Now with the latest version of the browser cacheviewer isn't supported anymore, so instead of it I use a hacked View Dependencies. (just the max. version hacked, nothing fancy.)