How do I set up a connection to a cable modem with a cable cord?

So I my laptop is upstairs and my At&t Uverse cable modem is downstairs and I believe there is some interference in the ceiling because although the signal always reads as "excellent" often times it seems to run a bit slower upstairs than when i bring it one floor down. I was wondering if connecting the laptop to the modem directly would be more helpful. (I already have a hidden wiring route that I made to run a hdmi cable from my tv downstairs to the laptop upstairs) I bought a 50ft cable cord and was wondering if all i need to do is plug it in or if i have to somehow program the connection so it knows to run through the cable instead of the wireless signal. I don't have a router either...not sure if id need one as they didn't provide one. Detailed help is much appreciated!

Just plug it in at both ends. It should work fine.

Once plugged in, it will take a few seconds to detect the new wired network and get an IP Address. After that you should be all set.

Edit: You can disable the Wireless if you want. There is either a switch on the laptop or a Fn+Fkey combination to do it.

Thanks...that wireless switch never seemed to matter if the light was on or off, i would always stay connected. Maybe thats because i was only wireless then. Is there a way to view how it is pulling the connection in control panel or something to make sure its using the cable? I wasn't really too sure what to look for in the "view network status" section

Task Manager, Networking tab will show you which is being used. There needs to be network traffic for it to register on the chart.

so this is what it shows....not sure how to read it though....i am plugged in with the cable now

No activity, so nothing to read. If it was being used, you would see jagged, up and down green lines on the graph. Start a large download then look. You can kill the download as soon as you see what you need to see.

Alternative is to disable the wireless, as I mentioned before.

woops...didnt scroll down enough to show the local area connection...it had the squigly lines