Wireless Networking Wireless Networking Introduction Manufacturers didn’t make it easy for people to  set up home networks. They also assumed  everyone knew as much as they did about how  to set the networks up. And we were coming  across headache - inducing problems time and  again. Less so these days. Now the  manufacturers have finally woken up to the fact that people would love to have a network in the home, to get rid of the cables, and to be able to place computers anywhere in the house - or  garden! But the difficulty and apparent lack of  security was putting people off. Major manufacturer Belkin are in the forefront  of these efforts to simplify it all, and they have   Home networks. All the rage, and with good reason. These days, if you have more than one computer in the house, you may well be using an ethernet cable system to share your net connection. But these days, there’s another way. Wireless. HCR come up with a brand new range of wireless  routers which are based on the now-familiar idea of ‘Apps’, such as pioneered for mobile phones.  This has meant that it’s easier for the customer  to understand, and easier to upgrade. Also, it  comes with all the security settings already set  up in the factory (all set differently!), so you  can’t get that wrong through lack of knowledge.  There are zillions of different products on the  market, but we here are going to go only for the very latest and best that there is, and all of it is from Belkin, partly because we think it’s good,  but also, getting everything from the same  manufacturer ensures compatibility. What you need The wireless routers below are grouped into two types: they are both wireless broadband routers, but  one has a built in  adsl2⁺ modem, and the other doesn’t. Since you already have an internet connection you already have a modem. If you want to keep it, then you’ll want the router without modem. If you  want to change it, then pick the router with a built-in modem. In either case, the computers you’re going to use also need a wifi adapter so they can talk to the router. All modern laptops already have them built-in, but it’s easy to get one for any computer that doesn’t. To get the best results you really want the adapter that’s designed to go with the router, and that is what’s presented here. So, decide if you want an included modem or not, and then go to the appropriate box  below, which will have all that’s required for your setup. NOTE: You don’t have to get the adapter for a computer without built-in wifi straight away; the routers both  have 4 x  1 gigabit ethernet ports on them, and so you could still connect up to 4 computers by cable as before,  while still having others exclusively using wifi.  Router without Modem Wireless Broadband Router Wireless NN+ Adapter This is the router. This one does not have a modem built in. Please make sure you have selected the correct one! This is the heart of your wireless system. If you have a computer that you want to connect to your network that doesn’t already have wifi, then you need this USB adapter, which is designed to go with the router at left. You need 1 for each such computer. Router with Modem Wireless NN+ Adapter This is the router. This one has a modem built in. Please make sure you have selected the correct one! This is the heart of your wireless system. If you have a computer that you want to connect to your network that doesn’t already have wifi, then you need this USB adapter, which is designed to go with the router at left. You need 1 for each such computer.