You've been held down by wires long enough. It's time to get rid of them and set up a wireless Internet network in your home so you can take your laptop from the basement to the attic and not worry about losing your connection. It's pretty safe to say that it is not a good idea to surf in the shower, but checking your email while doing lying in bed will be an option once you get your network running. Keep in mind that although setting up a wireless network is very doable there are many small details to consider, especially when it comes to securing your connection. Just be very patient, read all the instructions that come with your hardware and don't assume this is going to be a plug-and-play operation.

1. HARDWARE AND AN INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP)

To get started you will need an Internet connection, a router, wireless adapters and some Cat5 cable. If you don't already have an Internet connection you will need to find the company you want to use and tell them to set you up with a modem. Many companies have bundle packages to lump your cable, phone and Internet service together. Some of these are regional specific, but here are some national ones to inquire with:

AT&T

Qwest

Mediacom

The company will come to your home, connect some wires and give you a little box with a bunch of lights on it, which is your modem. You can buy your own if you want, but they will let you borrow one. We suggest a DSL or cable high-speed connection for a wireless network due to the lightning speed of these connections. While it is possible with dial-up you will become quickly frustrated by the turtle-like speed of dial-up. Most companies will have you up and running in one day or less!

2. GET A WIRELESS ROUTER

A router is a device that hooks to the modem and 'talks' to your computers. This will connect all the computers in your network to the internet. You should buy a wireless router, such as:

Linksys WRT 150N

Netgear WPN824

Belkin Wireless G

3. GET A WIRELESS ADAPTER

Wireless adapters are devices that talk wirelessly to the router, which in turn connects you to the Internet. Most of these will connect via a USB connection. You can think of the adaptors as your invisible wire, if it helps. Newer computers come standard with internal adapters, so you will have to find out if your computer has one. If it does not, you must buy an external adapter that matches your router; you can't have a Linksys router and a Netgear wireless adapter.

Here are some popular wireless adapters:

D-Link DWA-556

Netgear RangeMax N

Linksys WUSB300N

Get some Cat5 Cable.

The Cat5 cable, or Ethernet cable, is needed to connect your modem to your router. You may also use these to network to all the computers, but then it wouldn't be a wireless network now would it?

4. SETTING UP THE ROUTER

Here are some general steps you are going to have to take, but make sure to read all the directions that come with your router as some routers may differ.

Plug in your router so it has power.

Then plug the Ethernet cable from modem into router. There will be a few Ethernet ports in your router; you want the one that is away from the rest. The modem connection goes here. All the other ports are for hardwire connections for a network. If your Internet connection is there and your router works, the router will broadcast the signal.

Now you have to decide whether your network is going to be strictly wireless or hybrid, meaning having both hardwire connections and wireless connections. For example, having one desktop near your router plugged in with an Ethernet cable and your laptop connected wirelessly. Whatever you decide, it may help to try hardwiring first to make sure everything is set up correctly.

Connecting the computers to the Router

If you are doing an Ethernet for one computer, plug it in and see if the Internet works. For wireless, if you have an internal wireless adapter the computer should recognize the signal automatically.

If you have an external adapter, put in the CD that came with it and install all the drivers. When your computer is ready, it will tell you to it is safe to plug in your adapter.

When the computer says new hardware found, you will be able to proceed through the hardware installation wizard. If this finishes and everything is correct, a monitor with parentheses icon should appear in your start bar. This is your wireless connection.

Click on the new wireless icon and tell it to connect. Most will now require a password or other key to access the connection. This protects other wireless computers from your neighbor's house from connecting to your network.

5. SECURING YOUR CONNECTION

At this point, consult the routers instruction manual or the some of the read me files on the CD. Warning: This is about as interesting as watching paint peel. It will, however, help you avoid headaches later.

One way to make sure only who you want on your Internet can access it is to open your browser and type http://192.168.0.1 in the address field. This is a general router IP address (Internet Protocol) that is pretty universal. Yours may be different so consult the manual.

This will bring you into the router settings so you can customize how your router works. Click on wireless settings. It will ask you for a username and password. Don't freak out, this also has a universal code (which is one thing that you should change cause if you don't hackers may be able to get in easily and change your router settings.) The universal codes are 'admin' and 'password' respectively, or any combination of these with the other field left empty, such as an empty username and 'password' for the password.

Once you are in your wireless settings, go to Wireless Card Access List and click Setup Access List. Check the Turn Access Control On box and then click Add on the list.

Now you need the Mac Address for your wireless adapter. If you have an external adapter, look for a barcode and the Mac Address will be right there with it. If you have an internal modem, go to properties for your wireless connection and it should be in there.

Enter in a name so you know which computer it is and the Mac Address and BAM; you have a list of the only computers that have access to your network. This means you will have to go back into this list to add a computer, but it also is a very effective way to make sure your neighbors can't piggy back your signal and possibly infect your network with something nasty.

Your house is not a Wi-Fi Starbucks environment yet, but if you want that sort of setup consult the router manual and enable wireless encryption protocol (WEP), which you can also find in the wireless settings screen of your router. Is your head still on straight? Did everything work out? If not, look around for troubleshooting specific to your hardware and operating system, or just hit up the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Sometimes Do-It-Yourself is fun, sometimes it can be a headache. Good Luck!

Resources

Microsoft support

Mac support

Best Buy Geek Squad