So you've got broadband Internet connection. Great! After a while, though, many people find that they've got so used to having broadband on one computer that they want to be able to use it from any other ones they own, too - including their laptop, and computers that are nowhere near the broadband line. Traditionally, the solution to this has been to run expensive network cables through your house, making holes in your walls and restricting the movement of your computers. Recently, however, another option has become available: wireless broadband.
Wireless broadband works by using short-range radio waves to create a small area where your computers can be networked without wires - most wireless networks are no bigger than a house, although larger ones are possible.
This is how it works. First, the broadband Internet connection is plugged into a wireless router - basically, a small, cheap computer that does nothing except acting as the hub of your network. You then fit wireless cards into each one of your computers, either by opening them up and putting it inside or by plugging it in using a cable (such as USB) or a port (like laptops' PCMCIA).
When you fit these cards and turn your computer (and the router) on, Windows should pop up a box asking you which wireless network you want to connect to. Your router should create a network automatically, generally naming it after its manufacturer ('netgear' or 'linksys', for example). All you need to do is choose this network, and you're on the Internet.
Wireless broadband Internet access is usually no slower than plugging the modem in directly, unless you have very cheap wireless equipment and a very fast Internet connection. It also gives you the added advantage that your computers will be networked together wirelessly, too - so you can easily make your folders shared and access them from any computer in your house using 'My Network Places'.
So How Do I Get Wireless Broadband Access?
To set up wireless broadband in your home, you will need to have a broadband connection already set up, you will need to buy a wireless broadband router which is the device which sends the wireless broadband signal around your home and you will need to buy a wireless network LAN card for your laptop or second PC which receives your broadband signal.
Once you have the network set up, you will also have the added advantage that as your computers are networked together, you will be able to send and receive files from one computer to the other, read files off any of the computer hard drives from any computer in the network and print documents directly from any computer in the network. You will have to leave your main computer on for all of this to be possible though.
However you don't need to leave your main computer on to use your broadband wirelessly around your home as the wireless broadband router will still send the broadband signal around your house even when your main computer is switched off. If you only want to use your laptop in Wifi hotspots when you are out and about then you will only need to buy a wireless LAN card as a broadband router is not required in this case. The other thing you will need is an account with a wifi service provider to give you wifi access.
Wireless broadband routers and wireless LAN cards can be bought in most offline computer stores or you can buy them online too.