As we've noted elsewhere, it is very important to connect your computer to your home router via an Ethernet cable versus using WiFi for Internet connectivity. This makes a very dramatic difference in the latency in your JamKazam sessions. 


Connecting to Your Home Router

A router is a hardware appliance, often provided to you by the company that delivers your Internet service, that lets you access the Internet from your home. These days most people access the Internet around their homes using wireless (WiFi) technology. However, your router will also have at least one Ethernet port (and often as many as 4 Ethernet ports) to which you can connect an Ethernet cable. Below is an image that shows what the end of an Ethernet cable looks like, and also shows what a set of Ethernet ports on a router looks like. Connect one end of your Ethernet cable to your home router.




Connecting to Your Computer

Most computers until a couple of years ago came with a built-in Ethernet port into which you could connect an Ethernet cable. If the computer you're going to use with the JamKazam has a built-in Ethernet port, you can simply plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into your computer, and you're done. As laptops get increasingly more thin, sometimes you don't see the full-sized Ethernet port on the side of your laptop. It might look like the image below, which case you can push down the piece of plastic where the arrow is displayed to push the Ethernet connector into the Ethernet port.


Recently, it has become much more common for modern computers to ship without an Ethernet port. So how do you connect an Ethernet cable to a computer that does not have an Ethernet port? The answer is that you need to get an Ethernet adapter for your computer. Modern computers that do not have Ethernet ports tend to ship with one or more USB-C (Windows) or Thunderbolt 3 (Mac) ports. This type of port and connector can be seen in the image below.


If your computer doesn't have a built-in Ethernet port, then you'll need to buy an Ethernet adapter. An Ethernet adapter for this type of port is shown below. These kinds of Ethernet adapters work just as well as a built-in Ethernet port, and they typically cost about $20. 




As with other items, we have gear recommendations specifically for Ethernet adapters and Ethernet cables you can use.



Logistical Challenges

To use an Ethernet cable, you just connect one end of the cable to your computer and the other end of the cable to your home router. It should "just work" from there. But what if the area you want to set up to play in JamKazam sessions is nowhere near where your home router is located? 


If the area where you want to play and/or sing in sessions is far away from where your home router is located, don't worry. You can simply buy a 100-foot Ethernet cable for about $10, run it across your house for sessions, and then coil it up and stick it in a drawer when you're done. It's not very elegant, but it works, and it's cheap and easy.