WIFI Help

[jahed]

i am planning to buy a laptop with wifi built in. i am also planning to buy a wireless cable router with it so that i can connect to my internet. what i am trying to find out is that, do i require anything to connect to my destop pc downstairs so that i can access my internet from my laptop upstairs?

if so, how would i know if my desktop pc is compatiable to connect to a cable router???

if this doesnt make sense, then i hope this picture helps you undertsand!!! thanks

[Stan]

Both your laptop and desktop would need to be wifi enabled. If the desktop isn't already, you can buy a wireless card or a wireless usb dongle.

[jahed]

how would i know if my desktop is wifi ready? is there a way for me to go to control panel and see whether i do have a wireless card installed or not?

[themoose]

If you put your router near enough your PC you can connect it up with an ethernet cable that comes with the router. Then you can connect other devices to your router wirelessly.

That's how it's set up in our house, anyway.

If your desktop is wifi enabled it would probably have an aerial on the back.. chances are it's not if it's a desktop.

[fnixws]

Theres a number of ways to do it.

The simplest way (pretty much will be plug and play) is to buy a Linksys WRT54G Wireless router.
Tho any wireless router will work fine. eg. Netgear DI-524.

Plug in your current cable modem to the Internet port.
Plugin your desktop to one of the 4 LAN ports
Use the WiFi on the laptop to scan for a network and connect to the open wireless network.

remember to read the manual, login to the modem and turn on security.
remember to change the password on the modem.

Jobs done, no need for a wifi card in the desktop.
No need to setup the ISP settings in some new wireless modem.

[iBrightDev]

easiest thing is to plug the wireless router to your desktop, and connect wireless with laptop, like Colin said.

[Armed]

how would i know if my desktop is wifi ready? is there a way for me to go to control panel and see whether i do have a wireless card installed or not?

Well, chances are, if there's no an antenna sticking out of the back of one of your card slot openings in the back of your PC, then it doesn't have WiFi capabilities yet. For ease of use, just buy a Wireless USB Dongle, instead of installing a card, the dongles are going for about the same prices as the cards now, and they're just plug and play.