I am buying a laptop next week, and I want to set up a wireless network here at home for it and my desktop to access my DSL. I know I need a wireless router, but I don’t know for sure what kind. And should I keep my desktop wired to the router or get a wireless adapter for it too?
I know there are a lot of Dopers that have done this kind of thing, so please, tell me what you think would work best. Thanks.
Are you dead-set on wireless? The laptop’s bound to have an ethernet connector built in, and ethernet hubs, cards & cables are cheap. If you’re going wireless, you have the issue of whether or not your network is secure from external (wireless) hacking. With an ethernet, not so much problems.
I would keep the desktop wired to the router. Why spend the money for a wireless card when you don’t need one? It’s not like you’ll be carrying the thing around.
As to what kind of router to get, I don’t know - when I got DSL, they gave me a wireless modem so I didn’t need any other equipment. The desktop stays hooked with CAT5 to the modem and the laptops picked up the wireless network iwithout any problem. I configured the WEP, which is good-enough security for me.
Ethilrist, yeah, I kind of want to be able to use the laptop in more than one place, you know, sitting outside, on my couch. I know about having to set up security on the wireless network. And most the laptops I have looked at also come with the wireless adapters already installed.
Which brings up another questions. I know about b and g types of wireless. But I have been seeing something about an a type. Is that worth picking up? It usually costs extra.
missbunny, That was kind of what I was thinking about the desktop. OTOH, I could get rid of some of the wires running around and under my desk. They never stay where I put them. 
I wish I had gotten a wireless modem with my DSL. But I probably would have had to pay more for it.
Lok
802.11a just uses a different frequency band from 802.11b and 802.11g. It might be useful to have if you end up having problems with interference, but to be honest I really doubt that it will be necessary for you. “a” and “g” offer the same speed, so there’s no real point in using “a” if you can use “g”. “b” is obsolete, so don’t use it if you don’t have to.
You can get 802.11b equipment for very cheap. You’ll probably find it is more than fast enough for most web surfing, small file transfers, etc. You may find it chokes up on transfers of large files. Sometimes printing over a wireless network will be intolerably slow (because print files are often quite large). I had a “b” netweok for a few years, and the only problem I ran into with it was doing things like backups from my laptop to a CD burner on my desktop. (There was also a slight tendency for the connection to slow down when someone was running the microwave oven in the kitchen.)
Then I started playing with video (e.g., transferring recordings from a DVR to my desktop machine). 802.11b could not handle that kind of traffic at all.
I upgraded to 802.11g and it works flawlessly. I sometimes watch video in real time streaming from my DVR to my laptop screen (when the kids are hogging the TV). I can’t see any justification for the additional cost that 802.11a would involve.
Most wireless routers are programmed/configured from one of the PCs on the network. (Some will only accept configuration from a wired connection.) Initially, at least, you will need to have a wired connection in order to configure your wireless settings. Whether you keep your desktop permanently on a wired connection depends, I think, on where your DSL access point is compared to your desktop machine. If they are nearby, it will probably be easier to use a wired connection. But you will always have the option, if you want to move the desktop machine to a new location in the house, of getting a wireless adapter for the desktop so you can move it away from the DSL modem and the router.
A few folks have mentioned “wireless cards” - I like integrated wireless on a laptop, but would recommend getting an external wireless adapter (USB interface) for your desktop machine, if you have a spare USB port. It’s probably no more expensive than a card, and a lot easier to set up and later to replace if need be.
Thanks for the information. Any opinions on particular brands or models of router to get? Or are they all pretty much interchangeable?
Lok
I highly recommend the Linksys WRT54G(or anything Linksys). I have one and love it. It has wireless (B,G) and 4 switch ports for hardwired desktop machines. It is easy to set up and has a good feature set. I have never had a problem with it, it just works.
Now, at work I admin a network where we use Cisco AP’s, and have about 50 of them. However, they have stuff you’d never need at home(unless you want to mess with QoS to speed your video or do VoIP) and they are hideously expensive.
But really, since Cisco bought Linksys they have become a sort of “Cisco light” and have really good stuff. Which is, I am sure, why Cisco bought them. It allows them to keep the reputation for bulletproof network gear, and move into the lower end markets.
About to do the same soon, so thanks for the thread Lok, as well to all of you who have responded!
Another (stupid?) question…can I set up my printer on the same wireless so, for instance, I can sit with my laptop on the patio, cruise the internet, and then print to my printer upstairs in the den?
Yes. What you are looking for is called a print server. I hate to keep pimping them but Linksys makes some wireless ones(I have never used them, but am satisfied with the Linksys gear I have used).
At work I use HP printservers that are wired, and again, a bit more versitile and expensive than other wired printservers. Wireless you pay extra for.
If I were going to do wireless I’d make sure that everything supported the “G” type of wi-fi. In reality, the data is going to get to the printer far faster, even on “B,” than the printer can get it on paper, but “G” is the coming thing, and “B” is already being phased out.
I’ve got an Ibook with wireless card installed and bought an airport express.
Easy to set up and the added bonus is I can also stream music from iTunes to my stereo and have a USB printer setup.
As already mentioned, you can get a separate adapter specifically designed to serve a printer on the network. Or, you can leave your printer connected to a desktop machine, set the desktop to “share” the printer, and access it through the desktop’s wireless connection. That way, you save the cost of the separate adapter for the printer, but you can only print if the desktop machine PC is switched on. You will probably want to turn off any power-saving auto-hibernation on the desktop machine.
That’s what we do in our house, which has a wireless network. The desktop has the printer attached to it. The laptops, which are usually downstairs, are set up to print to the printer attached to the desktop. This works well.
Everything we’ve bought from Linksys has worked like a charm.
Thanks again for all the help. Now I just need to spend a lot of money to get the laptop and router. 
Lok
I bought a first Getn Linksys wrt54g and it was crap. (That $20 I saved was more than made up for me upgrading firmware and troubleshooting.) Once they updated the firmware, it became bullitproof. So one you buy now will be fine. I’ve used Linksys, D-link and SMC basestations - all work great.
The SMC was $10 after mail-in rebate, which is just gravy, IMHO, and makes the ‘cost’ issues moot.