Wireless Computers

Do you have to have a wireless internet service to use a wireless router?

I currently have dsl service, but no wireless internet service is available in our area. Is it necessary to have wireless internet service to utilize a wireless router? There are three 4 laptops in our household that we are interested in connecting. Any advice/answers are appreciated! How can I determine the type of adapter I have in my computer?

Public Comments

1. if you have dsl , all u need is a wireless router to connect to your dsl modem , and from the router you send the signal for all your laptops, as long as they are wireless ready which nowadays most of them are. Just need to make sure you configure your router and put a password on it, you dont want your neighbors hooking to your wireless router
2. you do not need wireless internet service to have a wireless router to use with laptops. buy a g or n router and follow the instructions in the box to get your connection running. then you can connect all four laptops to it at the same time if thay all have wireless cards (they have to be b,g,or n wireless cards. (I have a very similar setup) :-)
3. Assuming you have a wireless NIC card in your PCs, you simply need a wireless router to eliminate the wires. Rather than buying a router that supports DSL, I would recommend plugging the router into the ethernet port on the DSL modem. There are 4 classes of wireless - A/B/G and N. You need to know what type of adapters are in your PCs - then purchase a router that supports that class. A is the slowest and has the least range - N is the fastest. Most routers support multiple classes. A router that supports B&G is probably a good choice for most purposes. Since these routers also provide security(WEP) and addressing (DHCP) services, you will need to know a bit about how to configure the wireles network adapters. Most routers for home use come with decent instructions on how to set them up. If you are reasonably competent with a PC, you should be able to set this up yourself.