WiFi = wireless fidelity Go wireless and make your network private with a passcode ("key"). Like they said, you still have the wired ports if you want to hook anything up that way (such as the nearest computer). You'll need a wireless adaptor for each computer. For desktops, I found installing a PCI adaptor gets a better signal than a USB adaptor I tried, but the USB is simpler to install if you haven't installed a card into a computer before. That's based on one a single instance, so maybe the USB's are stronger now. Wireless G will probably be fine (they're on sale everywhere), though you could splurge and go for "N", giving even more range and speed, etc.. N routers were like $99 at microcenter. Anyway, yesterday I bought a Linksys G PCI adaptor on sale there for $39 (reg. $49), to be used with our new Dell running Vista to communicate with a Dell running WinXP. (I think the Linksys G routers were like $59.) I'm also sharing the printer that's connected to the XP computer, and doing so without a printer server, which everyone wants to sell you. There's a way to do it without it, but none of the store geeks will share that info. (Turn on file sharing and "share this printer", install the driver onto the other computer, then explore and find the main computer on your network, under it find the printer on the network, and select it.

Thanks all. I really appreciate your input. I'm leaning towards the Belkin N600 Wireless Dual Band router. I currently own a Belkin and have never had any trouble with it, so figure I'll stick with what I'm happy with. The downside is all of the reviews without fail mention how bad tech support is no matter what brand you get. I wonder when companies are going to wise up and realize that is one reason folks don't buy their equipment.

Hi Seattlemike, I looked at the specs for your printer and it appears to connect via USB or parellel to your desktop as a standard setup. It does have an optional network adapter/print server. Does the printer have this optional feature (does it have a port for the ethernet cable?). Are you currently having issues with the desktop staying online? I'm trying to ascertain why the tech wants you to go wireless when you have the router a few inches from the desktop. Ideally, you would connect the modem to the router, then the desktop to the router via ethernet cable, the laptop connects to the router via wireless and then there's the printer. If it has only USB or parellel connection, you will have to connect it to the desktop, then share it on the network to enable printing from the laptop (the desktop must be online and active for this to work). If it has the optional ethernet port/print server then it also can be connected to the router and given a static (assigned) IP address. In every case, you will need to connect the printer directly to the laptop in order to install the driver, then disconnect from the laptop and place the printer in it's permanent position. After all of the physical connections are made, you'll need to syncronize the network. This entails powering off everything (usually requires electrical power to be disconnected, some items do have on/off switches) and bringing them online in a specific order. Starting with the modem, plug it into power and watch the lights until the 'online' light becomes stable. Next will be the router, plug it into electrical power and wait 2 minutes for the router to obtain it's IP address from the modem. Now turn on the printer and computers, order is not important here. Everything should be online at this point. Please make sure that you utilize wireless security on the router to protect your network especially since you will have to enable file and printer sharing on the desktop in order to allow printing from the laptop, leaving your desktop wide open to intrusion. The router has several options, WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK. You will need to see which of those options that your laptop's wireless adapter utilizes. I'm sure that I've missed something, please ask. Other helpers will also add pertinent details that I may have overlooked. Pam

fwiw My experiences with the plug in usb WiFi adapters, they all seem to have much lower receive and send power than the internal types. They struggle with distance I think is their main problem for some uses. Here Im using a little tiny Trendnet/Realek usb mini adapter, sticks out maybe 1/2 inch. Has 100mw rx 200mw tx, with no antenna, and that's = very weak. It works flawlessly though in my use, even in full energy savings mode - I bought it to experiment with two channels and it matches my Trendnet wifi/dsl-modem/router, and only cost ten bucks delivered.. Actually it worked out so perfect for here that I use it full time as its weakness in send/receive signal is such that it doesn't see but just one neighbor, where as if I actuate my internal wifi it sees a dozen ssid's at any given moment . It is mostly line of sight here to the router here which I keep that router set at 12% transmit power to actually appreciate in my mind I have as fast as possible network speeds without bothering neighbors signals. My iverizon dsl 7.1mb is way under the 120 to 150mb windows says is available - so do I need it :) But if I were streaming to a tv or moving backup files around.. maybe 2 channels then would really be appreciated and actually useful. I don't think I've had a single dropout since I uninstalled the TrendNet install and let Microsoft automatically discover new hardware and install with their version of the realtek wifi driver. Windows has all the necessary built in programming for managing it.