Apple p44-49 ユーザーズマニュアル

How to set up a computer network
in your house, and whether a media
PC will add to the fun

J A N U A RY

2 0 0 6   W H I C H ?

44

The first thing you need to set up your network 
is a wireless (WiFi) adaptor. The best type for you
depends on whether you’re connecting a laptop
or a standard computer.

FOR LAPTOP COMPUTERS

If you’ve bought a laptop computer in the last
couple of years or so, it probably has WiFi built
in. For example, all laptops which bear the
Centrino logo are WiFi compatible.

If not, you can buy a card that slides into one

of the card ports on your laptop. They’re called
PC cards (or sometimes CardBus or PCMIA
cards) and cost around £30.

FOR DESKTOP COMPUTERS

You can buy wireless-adaptor cards for your
standard PC but we don’t recommend them:
they’re a hassle to fit and line up for a good
reception. You often have to move the receiver
around a bit until you’ve found a good position –
awkward if it’s inside a hulking great PC.

The more convenient alternative is an external

receiver (around £30) that plugs into your
computer’s USB port. Most come with an
extension lead and cradle so you can place it on
top of your computer’s case or display to get a
better signal. (You can plug the USB adaptors
into a laptop but it’s obviously less convenient 
to lug them around everywhere.)

Buy an

adaptor

1

Once you have a couple of computers with
adaptors, one can broadcast the internet to the
other. A PC in your study, say, could send data 
to a laptop in the kitchen.

The problem with this is that the computer

with the internet connection has to be left on. 
To solve this problem, buy a router which plugs
directly into your internet modem (see p46 for
Best Buys). The router sends the internet signal
to various computers at the same time.

YOUR OLD INTERNET MODEM

Most people have a USB modem that plugs
straight into your PC. You can’t connect this to
your router, so you’ll have to buy a new modem
for about £40 – ask for an Ethernet modem.

If you’re upgrading to broadband and wireless

at the same time, you can buy a modem that has
a built-in wireless router for around £60.
Neither of our Best Buys has a built-in modem.

Buy a

router

2

T

here’s nowhere the
richest man in the

world would rather be
than your living room.

Microsoft boss Bill

Gates is betting that
computers will move
out of the study – and
that they’ll expand to
gobble up your music
collection and hi-fi,
your DVDs, even your
family photo album.

And queuing up

behind him are his
rivals from every other
home computer
company.

The computing

industry wants to send
music, video and the
internet all over your
house – especially the
rooms where you spend
lots of time lounging
around – through home
networks.

These networks are

particularly well suited
to media PCs, which
store TV, music and
photos. It’s an exciting
development but you
need to know what to
buy and what to expect.