Wifi on the cheap

[Myonosken]

Hey everyone,

I recently came into possession of a laptop and would ideally like to have it connected to the internet via Wifi.

Now, I'm a student, so I'm aiming for the cheapest possible option for setting it up. I was told that this setup:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=47808&doy=17m2

Would get me all sorted, however, I'd like to ask how I'd go about using that with keeping my home PC connection. At the minute, my PC is wired up to the internet via a Motorola "Via Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter" and I'd quite like to keep this wired up, but this is not essential.

Therefore, I guess my question is, what else would I need to buy to keep my PC wired and the laptop wireless, and would this be more expensive than just going fully wireless?

Thank you very much

 

[Madwand1]

You wouldn't need anything in addition to the router to do wired + wireless networking, and this would be better and cheaper than going all wireless. A wireless router would be the center -- your internet service, wireless and wired computers would communicate through it.

Most modern laptops have built-in wireless. If yours has 802.11g with WPA support built-in, there'd be no need for an additional wireless adapter.

 

[Kelemvor]

Like Myonosken said, assuming your router would be near the wired PC, you just need a wireless router and a PCMCIA card for the laptop unless it has wireless built in. Not sure how old the laptop is to know if it has it built in or not.

THen just go form the cable modem to the route rand from the router to the PC and you're on. Then configure the wireless and you're done.

ANd if you want it on the cheap, just look at the ads that come out tomorrow and find someone with a sale on a wireless router. Can be had for close to $30 or so most of the time.