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This article was excerpted from: PC Upgrading and Troubleshooting QuickSteps

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Wireless networking for the home is relatively new. Up until a few years ago computers on a network were connected by cables, which meant that cables had to be run across rooms and through walls to every computer on the network—so setting up a cabled network could be a lot of work. The recent explosion in wireless networking products based on the 802.11b and 802.11g standards, also called Wi-Fi, has made setting up a network much easier. A typical wireless router can send signals inside a building up to 150 feet, although walls and other obstacles can shorten that distance considerably. For a home or small office, wireless networks are by far the easiest way to share an Internet connection among computers that aren't located near your DSL or cable modem. However, if you have a couple of computers sitting right next to each other and they are just a few feet away from your DSL or cable modem, then you don't really need a wireless network. A less expensive, conventional wired router and conventional network cables will work just fine. All the instructions here apply to conventional routers as well. But keep the future in mind; if there's any chance you'll want to expand your network to another room or if you'll need to be able to work almost anywhere on a laptop computer, setting up a wireless network is a good investment.

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