[PLUG] Changing from Wireless to Wired Networking

[Rich Shepard]

   Yesterday I subscribed to the xubuntu mail list and posted the following
message. It's the only one I've seen on the list; that is, there is no
activity there. If folks here cannot provide the appropriate answer, please
point me to an active source that might.

   I've installed xubuntu-10.04 on my wife's Toshiba Satellite. Most of the
time she uses the wireless networking capability for on-line activities. For
some reason no one's been able to explain (or fix), the wireless radio will
not work from the den at the rear of the house (the wireless access point is
in my office at the front of the house). So, I ran a cat5 cable to the den.

   However, even when booting the laptop with the ethernet cable connected,
we cannot get connection to be recognized. The system keeps trying to
connect to a wireless network (we see 6 others in the neighborhood), and I
cannot turn off that search and turn on the wired connection. I've tried
Fn-F8, the wireless switch via the keyboard, but it makes no difference.

   I'm not a ubuntu user other than for her laptop (I've been running
Slackware for years) so I would like to learn how we can switch between
wireless and wired network connections at will.

TIA,

Rich