user81471: I want to communicate with my Arduino over a long distance so I decided to use an Ethernet cable between my computer and Arduino. Searching up a few tutorials I've found them all mentioning IP addresses and establishing a network.
Simply put my question is can an Ethernet shield make the Arduino function basically the same as with a direct USB connection into its port(with Serial and all) without having to establish a network/other things. If so, is it as simple as saying something like "Ethernet.begin()" and then continuing?
Thank you, and please note that I (clearly) do not have much TCP/IP experience (but am more than willing to learn).

user7508: No, you cannot do that. Ethernet is very different from a serial link.
You will have to deal with IP addresses, port numbers, the notions of
client and server, and so on. Note that, once you manage to establish a
TCP connection through Ethernet, that connection does behave pretty
much like a (somewhat virtualized) serial link. But you have to
establish the connection first. So you will have to study a bit, read
documentations, etc.
Alternatively, if you only need a short-distance link (say, a couple of
km), you can try RS-485 instead of Ethernet. RS-485 is a physical layer
commonly used to transmit regular serial data. From the software point
of view, it is pretty much a regular serial link, save for the fact that
you usually cannot speak and listen at the same time (you could, with
more expensive cabling).

81471: <p>I want to communicate with my Arduino over a long distance so I decided to use an Ethernet cable between my computer and Arduino. Searching up a few tutorials I've found them all mentioning IP addresses and establishing a network.</p>
<p>Simply put my question is can an Ethernet shield make the Arduino function basically the same as with a direct USB connection into its port(with Serial and all) without having to establish a network/other things. If so, is it as simple as saying something like &quot;Ethernet.begin()&quot; and then continuing?</p>
<p>Thank you, and please note that I (clearly) do not have much TCP/IP experience (but am more than willing to learn).</p>
 7508: <p>No, you cannot do that. Ethernet is <em>very</em> different from a serial link.
You will have to deal with IP addresses, port numbers, the notions of
client and server, and so on. Note that, once you manage to establish a
TCP connection through Ethernet, <em>that connection</em> does behave pretty
much like a (somewhat virtualized) serial link. But you have to
establish the connection first. So you will have to study a bit, read
documentations, etc.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you only need a short-distance link (say, a couple of
km), you can try RS-485 instead of Ethernet. RS-485 is a physical layer
commonly used to transmit regular serial data. From the software point
of view, it is pretty much a regular serial link, save for the fact that
you usually cannot speak and listen at the same time (you could, with
more expensive cabling).</p>
