Wireless networking is a great substitute for wires, or rather where you cannot run wires, but
wireless cannot deliver the solid 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps network speed you may want for computerto-
computer file sharing or blazing fast gaming.
Whether you are starting from Project 1 or Project 10, the essential components are
pretty much the same. If you??™re adding a wireless router to Project 1, you should go
through Projects 10 and 11 to understand and accomplish the steps involved in changing
from a single-computer network to multiple computers with the router and firewall
configuration. If you??™ve been through Project 10 and 11, similar steps apply to adding
a wireless router. This project covers setting up the wireless aspects of the router and
your computers, replacing an existing router with one that adds wireless functionality??”
though you could as easily add a wireless access point to your existing router.
Figure 2-1 shows a selection of wireless components you could encounter: a combination
router/firewall that provides four Ethernet connections plus wireless access, a
wireless access point only (no router features), a PC Card wireless adapter for laptops,
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10 Project 2
and a PCI card wireless adapter for a desktop PC. That??™s right??”you can make your
desktop wireless too! If your laptop does not have a built-in wireless adapter, you??™ll
need a PC Card or USB wireless adapter.
Adding wireless to your current network is a matter of replacing your current nonwireless
router with a wireless unit, or adding a Wi-Fi access point to your present router,
and spending about 15 minutes configuring the wireless unit to suit your preferences.
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