Adding a computer to your wireless network

Q: I want to hook up a computer in my house to the Internet using my existing wireless network. What do I need to buy for the computer to get it to work?

A: You have a couple of options here. One is to purchase a PCI wireless adapter which ranges in price from about $15 for the most generic one to $70 for a more advanced and higher powered adapter. A PCI wireless adapter needs to be installed on the inside of your computer so you will need to open up your computer case and be able to locate an empty PCI slot.

I personally think that the PCI wireless adapter is a bit of a hassle so I would recommend going with another option which is much easier to install. That option is a wireless USB adapter which ranges in price again anywhere from about $15 to $50. Assuming you have an available USB port on your computer, you need only plug in the wireless USB adapter to your USB port on your computer and your hardware setup is complete.

Regardless of which option you choose, make sure you get the wireless adapter that matches your network. I’m referring to the “b” and “g” letters you often see in the wireless adapter product names.

For example, if you have a wireless-b network in your house you can save yourself some money by purchasing a wireless-b adapter. However, if your wireless network is more current, you probably have a wireless-g network and will want to make sure you get a wireless-g adapter to utilize the maximum bandwidth your network allows.

Once you have your wireless adapter in place all that is left to do is to follow the instructions for the wireless adapter to locate and connect to your wireless network.

This post was originally broadcast Friday, April 20, 2007 on Tech Talk with Noobie, a weekly radio show on WCBK 102.3 FM in Martinsville, Indiana. Tech Talk with Noobie airs every Friday between 11:30 a.m. and noon. If you have a question you would like Noobie to answer on the air, simply e-mail your question to .