Does it matter which ethernet port I use?

[Mike Spin]

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased a Panasonic 50" G Series Plasma and the Panasonic 7.1 Home Theatre w/ Blu Ray (BT300) and I wanted to know if it mattered which devices Ethernet port I used in terms of video quality as I plan to take advantage of the Amazon Video On Demand feature to stream HD content. I am planning to connect the theatre/blu ray unit to the TV with an HDMI and optical cable.

Forgive me if the answer is: "It doesn't matter" but I have been out of the loop for quite some time and I thought it might be a good idea to check with the huge number of knowledgeable people on this site.

Thanks!

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by Mike Spin

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased a Panasonic 50" G Series Plasma and the Panasonic 7.1 Home Theatre w/ Blu Ray (BT300) and I wanted to know if it mattered which devices Ethernet port I used in terms of video quality as I plan to take advantage of the Amazon Video On Demand feature to stream HD content. I am planning to connect the theatre/blu ray unit to the TV with an HDMI and optical cable.

Forgive me if the answer is: "It doesn't matter" but I have been out of the loop for quite some time and I thought it might be a good idea to check with the huge number of knowledgeable people on this site.

Thanks!

hi mike, welcome aboard. mike, if your asking (because you didn't actually state it) what port on a switch or hub, as far as ethernet ports go then, no it doesn't make a difference.

again, if that is what your asking. if it's not please elaborate a bit more and we'll be more than happy to help you out!

Please & Thank You!

[Mike Spin]

Hi again,

My question was whether I should use the Ethernet port on the home theater/blu ray unit or the Ethernet port on my plasma TV to connect to my network. I know that in previous technologies the more you split the signal or run it through other devices, the greater your chances were for losing quality. If I decide to run the Ethernet cable to the blu ray/home theater unit will I lose audio/video quality vs. running the Ethernet cable directly to the TV? Or doesn't it matter because the HDMI and optical cable technologies are so advanced now?

I hope that clarified my question and thanks again for your help.

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Mike Spin

Hi again,

My question was whether I should use the Ethernet port on the home theater/blu ray unit or the Ethernet port on my plasma TV to connect to my network. I know that in previous technologies the more you split the signal or run it through other devices, the greater your chances were for losing quality. If I decide to run the Ethernet cable to the blu ray/home theater unit will I lose audio/video quality vs. running the Ethernet cable directly to the TV? Or doesn't it matter because the HDMI and optical cable technologies are so advanced now?

I hope that clarified my question and thanks again for your help.

You will have to connect both the TV and the BDP to the network. Not for quality, but connectivity reasons. You won't be able to pass updates to your BDP from your TV and vice versa via HDMI or any other connection.

[Mike Spin]

Good point, Jason. I never thought of that. Excuse me while I go order another 35' cable.

[JasonR]

You might be better off, with the longer run, using a single cable to a repeater/switch of some sort and hooking both up with shorter runs to it. I know 35 feet isn't huge for CAT6, couldn't hurt though.

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by JasonR

You might be better off, with the longer run, using a single cable to a repeater/switch of some sort and hooking both up with shorter runs to it. I know 35 feet isn't huge for CAT6, couldn't hurt though.

+1

Use a single long run to your A/V cabinet and then get n inexpensive switch to distribute your network to all of your devices. I use an 8-port switch in my A/V cabinet for all of my gear. Its amazing how quickly the networkable devices add up.