Hi, my Sony Vaio laptop has a single physical network card (Realtek), as shown in Device Manager. The laptop itself also has a single network port. The port replicator (an accesory that is meant to convert the laptop into a desktop) has 2 network ports. Does this make any sense? I mean, can I use the single physical network card to connect the laptop to two different network devices?
What is the model number of the port replicator?
Do you have a link to an image which shows these two ports?
Or better yet, do you have a link to a manual port replicator
SONY PORT REPLICATOR MODEL: VGP-PRS30/VGP-PRS35
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO MANUAL
If that "manual" mentions what the LAN jacks connect to inside of the port replicator, then I missed it.
My guess is:
You can plug a network cable from a wall jack or router/modem into either one of those LAN jacks. Then plug another LAN cable into the other LAN jack on the port replicator. That second LAN cable can then be connected to another device (like a VoIP phone). The port replicator acts like a two port switch.
All of the above is just a guess.
The "manual" mentions checking BIOS if you cannot (see?) use the LAN jacks. You might try going into BIOS while the port replicator is connected and see what you can see.
I checked the BIOS but unfortunately there's no option whatsoever that makes any reference to accesory or internal parts to enable/disable them. I'm tempted to open the replicator's back cover and check what kind of hardware there's inside.
That's precisely what made me post this thread. One of the ports of the port replicator is connected to the cablemodem (internet access) and I tried connecting the other port to the router/switch that in turn connects me to the NAS, but I was unable to access the NAS (by opening the browser, typing its IP address, etc). On the other hand, if I unplug the cable that connects to the cablemodem and instead connect it to the NAS it will establish the connection successfully. It seems I can only use one port (either of them) only, but not both simultaneously, which in turn prompted me to ask what's the point of a 2nd port if it's unusable. I can always call Sony Support and ask them, but it's a pain in the neck as usually their Support staff is not qualified and they only read the User Manual to answer your questions.
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