Word: router
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...heart of your network will be a wireless access point and cable/DSL router, preferably one device that does both. These two-in-one units, sometimes called wireless gateways, start at $150 and often throw in a few Ethernet ports too, so you can connect a printer or desktop PC using a standard Ethernet cable. I had a smooth experience with the Linksys Etherfast Wireless AP+Cable/DSL Router ($169). Similar products are made by D-link, Intel, NetGear, Siemens, SMC and 2Wire...
...routers and network cards come with software to walk you through the installation. The steps will vary slightly, depending on each computer's operating system. The older the OS, the trickier it can be; Windows XP is designed to detect and configure a PC card to talk to an existing network, and getting an iBook running Mac OS X to communicate with my Linksys router was a breeze...
...addresses. You can get these things from your Internet provider; your customer-service rep will know what you're talking about. Each is just a series of numbers (e.g., 123.43.2.1) that you'll be prompted to plug in during setup. (If your provider supports a protocol called DHCP, your router should retrieve these settings automatically when you plug it in.) You may also be asked to choose an SSID (service set identifier), work-group names and a wireless channel; keep these consistent for all of your machines...
...line up to one end of the box, plug any ordinary phone into the other end, and you're ready to go. No PC required. (If you want to share your connection with a PC, as most people will, you'll need to run it through a router. Vonage will sell you one for $25; the setup is a little more involved, but it's still not brain surgery...
...broadband customers, charging $100 for the wired version, $250 for wireless. Networking cards for each PC are $50. Customers must install the gear, but for $9.95 a month they get unlimited phone-based technical support and a promise that no matter what the trouble is--poor network connection, faulty router--EarthLink won't pass the buck. Gateway, a PC manufacturer that also sells broadband services and networking equipment, goes a step further: for $399, it will send a technician to your house to install the equipment and configure each computer (often the trickiest part of the setup process). A crash...