Creating a wired internet connection without wires

As more home appliances become internet enabled the need for a fully-wired home increases. If you don't have a network port in every room and your device does not have Wi-Fi then you can easily use a laptop to bridge the gap. You wouldn't want to do this permanently unless you had an unused laptop available. For more than occasional use a HomePlug would be a better option, which turns your house's powerpoints into network ports.

For this example I'll detail how to get a Topfield 7100+ PVR connected via a Windows 7 laptop, but other devices and operating systems should be similar.

To start, you'll need to connect the laptop to the PVR using a crossover cable. These are used to connect together devices that expect to be talking to a router, not another non-router. In the olden days normal ethernet cables were blue and crossover cables were yellow, but now either cable comes in any colour. The type may be printed on the cable. Crossover cables cost only a few dollars.

Next you need configure Windows to enable Internet Connection Sharing. This is a bit hard to find, but in Windows 7 (and in virtually the same place in Windows Vista):

1. Click Start | Control Panel | Network and Internet | Network and Sharing Center | Change adapter settings
2. Right-click on Wireless Network Connection and select Properties
3. Choose the Sharing tab, then tick 'Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection

At this point the connection is ready to go. In the PVR menu you should go to Installation | Network Setting | IP Setting and choose Wired LAN and DHCP. Then scroll down to activate the connection, and the previously empty settings should be populated. Make a note of the IP address, as this is required for the laptop to connect, via FTP or Web, with the PVR. Don't forget to turn on the FTP or web server on the PVR.

That's all there is to it. Remember to turn off Internet Connection Sharing when you're done.