Wireless for Beginners

Having wireless internet access at home is very convenient. All your home computers can share one broadband internet account. You can use your laptop while watching TV or laying in bed. And, my favorite, you can take your laptop to the bathroom instead of a magazine. Ditto for your wireless enabled PDA. So, as in all our ventures, let's learn about the components needed so you can choose what's best for your new wireless internet setup.

Between terms such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 802.11a, b, and g (and the upcoming n), it's no wonder so many people are afraid to setup their own wireless internet at home. The truth is, however, the various forms of wireless networking have helped consumers because prices are dropping and quality is increasing. Hopefully, by the time you finish reading these few pages, you'll be able to know exactly how to setup a network so everyone in your home has secure wireless internet access.

Before you can contemplate setting up wireless networking, you have to have some kind of broadband internet access. The most common options are cable, DSL, or satellite. Which is better depends on what's available in your area and, believe it or not, on which kind of broadband access the rest of your neighborhood is using. We will not discuss the differences here, but you can check out these two articles (About.com and CNET.com) if you still haven't obtained broadband access.

The modem is the piece of equipment with all the lights flashing.

The wire that goes from your modem to your computer is called an Ethernet cable. Some modems connect to the computer with a USB wire. For our purposes, it's not really important which one your modem uses.

Wireless routers also have flashing lights, but also antennas.

To setup your home wireless internet network you are going to need a few things. First, you need something to transmit your internet signal into the "air". This is called the wireless router, and usually has some sort of antenna on it. Then you'll need something to pick up the signal. Other destops, laptops, and PDAs need to be fitted with wireless adapters. During the next few pages, we'll explore all these options.