A Simple Recipe for Wireless

Installing a wireless network is not that hard, and the benefits of having Internet access from any room of your house or office far outweigh the pain of installing the network. 

If you want to just dive right in, start with this comprehensive, step-by-step guide to installing Wi-Fi routers and access points from the experts at Dummies.

We also have an entire section of Yahoo! Tech devoted to wireless networking.

But if you're looking for just a big picture view of this little project, here's the basic recipe for going Wi-Fi:

Ingredients for a home network:

• A wireless router. A router is the radio or transmitter that connects to your DSL or cable modem and sends out a wireless signal of that connection.
  
• A laptop that has Wi-Fi built-in
  

• A Wi-Fi adapter that adds wireless access to your computer
• Ethernet cables (to connect your modem to the wireless router and (optional) the router to any desktop computers that you want to have hardwired).

Recipe:

• Hook the wireless router up to cable modem.
• Follow set-up directions that come with your wireless router.
• Turn your laptops on and let them acquire the wireless signal.
• Once you have the network set up; go back and enable a security code (WEP or WPA Encryption) using the software that came with your wireless router to prevent unauthorized computers from accessing your network. To allow access for your own computers, you'll have to go into the wireless networking controls on the laptops and enter that same security code, so make sure you jot it down and have it handy. 

That's really it. Of course there will be snafus and possibly calls to tech support, but this recipe provides an overview. So, GO FORTH AND BE WIRELESS!