"how do I determine which is his."

All networks brodcast a name called Service set identification (SSID) you will see it listed in network connections on your computer.

Ask him the name of his Network or his ssid, then you click on it, it will ask for the password or number he gave you and you will have access to the network.

I have a uverse setup on my computer at home. I looked at network connections and No, I did not see any ssid number.

The ssid is from the router not the internet connection. You need to be within range of the network router to see the ssid (or network name as Zep stated earlier).

Just curious? Is this his own personal connection or a business? I have my own in a complex, and am glad.

The connection I am asking about is between two offices in one suite in a very large office building. It is a business connection. I also have a home wifi uverse in a different zip code.

When you say complex...what do you mean... a condo or something. How are you set up and what process did you have to go thru to accomplish it.

OK... I checked the router on my friends computer and it is different from my home computer. So the identification and selection part is now resolved. How about the rest of the process.

It seems clear now that I do not need a router on my office computer. Do I handle the rest of it by going into the network connections of the control panel on my computer and letting the network wizard lead me through it.

Are there any other issues that may bring up a problem between my friend and I using the same network. If not then this is a very good deal.

Sort of..

Click >Start>controlpanel>Network&sharing. Now look for "Connect to a network" Click it. A Window should open showing available networks, look for your friends ssid or the name of his network, click on it, enter the number he gave you. Your computer should connect to it.

You will need to in the office to do this, otherwise you will not see his network.

Have you ever allowed guests in your home to use your home network? The process would be the same. On my Windows 7, I open Control Panel>Network and Sharing Center>Connect to a network. Click that and all the networks within range should show. You should recognize his by the SSID (or network name). To connect, you will need to enter the password, numeric or whatever, that he shared with you. Once you do that, you should connect immediately if the signal is strong enough.

When I moved into the assisted living a friend of mine who is had worked with computer for years both in service and now in a large school, set it up thru our phone company. It is nice, because I don't share with anyone..

PaulSmith,

Hope you are still with us. Do you have Wi Fi on your computer at the office? If so, when you left click on the stairstep icon on the right side of the taskbar a small window pops up with a vertical list of names, numbers or combos, ie. ATT1997, My Network, Netgear36. Pollysparrot, etc. (I couldn't do a screen capture)

The name (SSID) of his connection will be on the list. To the right of each name is a stairstep icon with some of the steps (5 in all) colored green, showing the strength of the connection. When you left click on his connection name (SSID) the highlighted area enlarges with a connect option. Left click that and enter his password in the space provided (security key).

This is how it is on my Win7 wifi laptop in Calif. The simplicity of wifi, love it. Oh, my computer has a wifi turn-on/off switch. Location varies with brands.

I checked my computer at home which has a wifi connection. The control panel does not have a selection labeled...networks&sharing. It does have some selections labeled...internet options...network connections...wireless network setup wizard,,,network setup wizard. None of these when clicked on bring up a wifi selection screen. This computer is a dell desktop at least ten years old so that may be the reason. Even though I have wifi on this home computer I do not remember how I did it.

I checked the office computer which is again a dell system that is about 5 years old. The same result as with the home computer.

When you say a step icon I am not sure what that looks like. Is this task bar at the top or bottom of the screen.

Currently I am still running xp on both systems. The computer at the office is using a phone dial up system. Yes... a dial up system...but it works and is reliable. I think my best bet is to just wait till the new computer we ordered is delivered and set that one up with the sharing. The current office computer will be set aside and continue with the dial up. It no longer will be used to surf the web. Its only function will be to retrieve any emails that are needed and send them to the new system. Using xp in this way should not be a problem.

Toolbars are at the top, taskbars at the bottom. If you look at Iris' screenshot you will see the step icon, two icons to the left of the clock, but her system is Win 7 or 8 with a classic shell.

On XP you'll see a little computer icon with 'waves' or lines going to the right somewhere near your clock. Just right click and choose "view Available Wireless Networks" and choose the network name or SSID.

You can setup and download the email on the new computer, which would eliminate the need for forwarding from the old computer.

Hope this helps.

Pam