If you’ve recently bought new a television from a big brand like LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Hisense or Sony in the last year it’s likely that you’re going to need to connect it to the internet in order to get the most from it.

Most brand new TVs these days rely on and use the internet to access online services like video-on-demand movies, streaming services like Netflix, weather information and news updates.

Connect to the router

Ethernet connection

To start, you’ll need to work out whether your television has a wired Ethernet port on the back — it looks like an oversized phone jack. If it does, you’ll need to connect your TV to your router using an Ethernet cable (not a phone cable!), plugging one end into a free LAN port on the router and the other end into your TV.

Wi-Fi connection

If your TV doesn’t have an ethernet cable, you can also connect your TV to the Internet using a wireless network connection, which comes as a built-in feature on many modern TV models.

No ethernet or Wi-Fi connection

If your new TV has neither wired nor wireless connectivity, there is one other option. Many televisions can also use wireless networking via an optional wireless USB adapter.

Connect your TV via Wi-Fi

For a start, your home’s router will need to be set up and broadcasting wirelessly so that the TV can identify the signal. The next step is to enter your television’s settings menu and find the option for wireless networking setup. After finding your network in the list of available access points, you’ll have to enter your network password.

Some TV’s and routers support “Wireless Protected Setup” (WPS) mode. So, instead of entering a password, all you have to do is press the button on your router when prompted by the TV.

A final word

Once you’ve set up Internet access on your TV, you should be able to access Web services directly — on most TV’s there’s a menu that allows you to choose and configure services as you want.

ABACON IT works directly with our customers to solve everyday issues like this. 

For help contact the author Ryan Danvers of ABACON IT on 072 601 2858.