How to Connect your iPad to wired Ethernet

Wired internet connection for your iPad? Anyone?

Have you ever wondered whether it is possible to connect your iPad to a wired network using an Ethernet cable? Sure... but why would you want to do that in the first place you may ask.

Well, maybe you are just curious, and it's a personal challenge to see if it actually can be done.  Maybe your WiFi coverage in your home is not great in some areas, but you have access to wired Ethernet. Or you might even be a little concerned that young kids using iPads for lengthy periods - often in their laps - essentially have a wireless transmitter running near vulnerable body parts.

Either way we've had a go at it and the process was surprisingly simple and easy. Not cheap, but hey it's all good.

What gadgets do you need to make this work?

Firstly, you need your iPad. Then you need the Apple Camera Adapter, followed by an Apple Ethernet adapter. Be warned, neither of these are cheap. They will set you back a bit of money. Now, it may be possible to get cheaper non-Apple branded components and still make this work, but we decided to stick with Apple accessories to ensure success.

Here is what these two gadgets look like:

Cool, but how do we connect it all up?

Pretty simple, really. Grab your iPad, plug in the Camera Adapter into the lightning port of the iPad. Then, grab the Ethernet Adapter and plug it into the USB port of the camera adaptor. This whole setup needs to be powered, so connect your Apple charger cable to the lightning port on the Camera Adapter. Lastly, plug your Ethernet cable into the Ethernet adapter. You are good to go. Try it, put your iPad into flight mode, disabling all WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Yet you can still get to the Internet, App Store etc. Works like a charm.

Hope you enjoyed the post and maybe even found it useful.

Cheers

MB