Wireless Internet

Ok, so can somebody tell me in english how to set up wireless internet?

That article pretty much covers it. I've had a lot of experience setting it up at home and working with my high school's expansive network.

The basic item you need is a router. This is an antenna system that is connected by ethernet cable to your high-speed modem, much they way you would connect a wired computer. "G" is the current fastest draft of wireless connection; this is what you want. "N" systems also exist, but they are not yet officially certified and are often more expensive but offer little more. Here's the new version of the router I have: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=linksys+router&hl=en&cid=16805360350804447440&sa=title#p The old one was blue, had physical external antennas and was quite popular, you've probably seen it around. The router will come with a CD setup program that will do everything for you, even often tell you when and how to connect the wires when you just get started. It'll create the network, and offer you the chance to password protect it.

With a network up and running, the next step is to connect your devices to it. Most laptops made in the last 5 years have built-in wireless adapters, and will automatically detect the new network. If not, you can easily get a USB adapter http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=linksys+usb+adapter&hl=en&cid=18121627074418681699&sa=title#p or if your laptop has a PC card slot, try on of these: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=linksys+pc+card&hl=en&cid=17549435442447514473&sa=title#p they generally work better than their more common USB counterparts. If you want to connect a desktop, the USB alternative is suitable, but again, working slightly better (faster and easier to connect) is a PCI adapter: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=linksys+pc+card&hl=en&cid=16885923583789986977&sa=title#p
All of these items come with instructions, often on a CD, but with most computers they're all plug and play. Stick it in and it'll immediately detect your network. When I came here to university, my laptop just said "Networks are in range of this computer -- click here to connect," and I did, and it did.

I found that a router alone was not strong enough to cover my whole house, so I also got one of these boosters: http://www.google.com/products?q=linksys+router+range+extender&hl=en Don't feel limited to the linksys brand, it's just what I use and it works well, but don't try to mix brands (i.e. one brand router and another brand's extender or receiver), that rarely works easily. Don't get an extender unless you find that your router is not enough. Some companies claim to have routers with larger ranges or faster speed, and many uncertified "N" drafts claim this, but it's a load of malarkey; it's all about the same. If you need more range, get a range extender. They're expensive, but they work.

Hope this helps. If you have any specific issues when you're setting it up I can probably be more helpful.

i'm using an airport express as my router and i have an adapter for the pc that is not the macbook

yeah, i kooked everything up right, even had a network between the two computers, but i couldn't get either to connect to the net. it still wanted to cannoect through the WANport of which it is no longer connected because it is connected to the airport

this is too cool. i'm on a long trip right now with my new laptop and i am currently at a gas station with a wifi connection! if i can get it to work at home too that would be sweet!

Just set up your network as a Home network... that should do the trick...

i can't even set up a networl now. i was able to yesterday but now it's gone and i can't create a new one. oh why does this have to be so frustrating?

Routers have given me a lot of grief too. I've never worked with an airport so I don't know what help I can give you specifically... just check to make sure that your high speed internet is plugged into your router first before going anywhere else, and that router displays that it is receiving the internet signal.. the airport express looks rather sparse in terms of physical feedback, is there a light that would indicate as such?

well, here's my status. i successfully set up a network between the mac and the windows with the airport. the modem is connected to the airport and the light is green. because the internet is on the windows, i go to connect to>high speed internet then it goes through the screen again, wanting to connect to the WAN miniport and therefore i do not get internet acces on either computer because it just simply redials the internet until it gives up. everything is connected as it should be, it's just neither computer will connect to the net. is it because our internet is roughly 6 years old, before the days of wireless? what it should be doing is connecting to th net through the airport which is connected to the modem, but alas that is not the case.

What do you mean when you go to connect to high speed internet, and it dials? Is your broadband connection not always open? Ah, if that is the case, then that is the problem -- it's incompatiable with the router, as a router is designed to to distribute an open connection, not to allow a computer to open a connection through it. There might be a workaround, but it would involve some tinkering. What's the name/specifications of your broadband service?

no, i have figured it i do believe. see roger, with the router, i can choose to manually connect to the net if that is what my net does (which it does). but here is the problem i do believe. for the wireless set-up to work, it kept giving me an error telling me to connect my ethernet to the wan port, and i was like but it is already! then i figured it out, on the back of our modem, all we have is a lan connection, so we're going to see about getting a new modem with a wan port on it instead.

Ah, that makes sense. So it was sort of an out-of-date hardware issue. It shouldn't be too hard to come by a reasonably priced modem with a wan port.

hopefully, aliant is known for being dicks

well, here goes the 3 hour download of the cs4 flash trial

Enjoy watching yourself age.

YAAAAAYYY!!! I have succesfully installed wireless internet!!! I am very happy right now! Now three PCs in my house (including my laptop) have the internet! and now my two year old Vista can update itself!

Good for you! Now all you need is a local hacker, and you can have your internet connection siphoned and control of your computer compromised!!

well, i live in a portion of the middle of no where, most people don't even know this place exists!