Optimum: Why Does My Cable Box Have An Ethernet Port?

With there being so many different internet and television advancements in recent years, it can be tough to see how they all fit together and relate to one another. 

For example, for those of us who have had the internet since the heady early days of dial-up, you will know the function of the Ethernet port. You plugged a phone cable into it and several minutes of harsh noise later, you would have access to the slowest internet connection in the world, right?

Well, since then, the usage of Ethernet ports has changed quite a bit. In fact, there’s one on pretty much any internet enabled device over a certain size. These days, these ports are added to your net devices to allow you to connect to the internet directly, bypassing the wireless element entirely. 

So, you may be thinking that it is a little weird that something like an Optimum cable box to have one. Well, once you know what it does, it actually makes a whole lot of sense. So, today we are going to explain why it is there and what exactly it does. 

So, on Optimum, Why Does My Cable Box Have An Ethernet Port?

The first thing that we should tell you is that the Ethernet port isn’t there to do anything related to the internet whatsoever. That Ethernet port that you are currently looking at isn’t what it seems at all – it is actually an upstream port. 

The purpose of these, if you don’t know, is to make sure that the best connection possible is established between this device and your router. 

In addition to that, it can also serve the function of transferring DVR shows on a LAN network. And its usefulness doesn’t end there. It can also be used to run diagnostics when connected to your PC.

The most important misconception that we need to clear up is that using this port to speed up your connection to the net will do absolutely nothing. In the case of this particular cable box, this is because it uses the same coaxial signals as your router does. However, this isn’t the case all across the board. 

There are more technologically advanced devices out there that can actually double as modems. In the case of these more advanced models, they can actually maintain and update themselves. Better again, they can also use their ports to cater to two way traffic with coax signals. 

The last thing that you should know is that the Ethernet port can actually enhance the performance of certain apps if connected to the modem. But, this will only be the case if you are using a smart TV. This may sound a little odd, but the reason for it is relatively simple. 

Essentially, this will happen because regular TVs rely on the cable box for their signal. However, in the case of a smart TV, they will need more data to live up to their full potential. So, if you want to slightly improve the performance of the apps on your smart TV, by all means hook up the box with an Ethernet cable.