I have a laptop in my home that I use sort of like a NAS (laptop 1). It has a hard-drive attached to it that is used for file-storage, and this drive is shared on the network via Samba. At least, I think it’s Samba (right-click, properties, share folder). When I need a file on my other laptop (laptop 2), I simply navigate to that folder and drag-and-drop. It works, but isn’t as speedy as it could be.

I’m re-configuring my desk setup and have mounted laptop 1 under the desk. I will be using a docking monitor that has an ethernet port on top of the desk with laptop 2, and laptop 1 will basically be operated headless for now.

I want to configure it so that laptop 1’s ethernet port is connected to the ethernet port of the dock. That way when laptop 2 is docked, there is a direct ethernet connection between the two laptops and I can take advantage of gigabit speed.

I did test this, and laptop 2 recognized an “unknown network”, but it was still sending at the same speed as it does over WiFi.

Is this something that can be fixed by changing settings, or do I need a switch (or even a router) to achieve what I am looking for?

I’m not an expert in networking (I’m a programmer), so I apologize if I’m missing the obvious or using incorrect terms. Thanks :)