So, what if you want the convenience of wireless, but the speed and reliability
of cables? The short answer is to wait about five years for the technology
to improve, and then pick up the latest Annoyances book to learn why you??™ll
need to wait another five years. The even shorter answer is to simply connect
your WiFi-equipped laptop to your network with a cable when your
wireless gets cranky or you need to transfer files. Luckily, a properly configured
network should have no trouble handling both wired and wireless PCs.
Figure 7-4 shows a common peer-to-peer network setup with two wired
desktop computers and a wireless connection to a laptop.
Figure 7-3. A wireless router acts as both a wireless access point and a switch, allowing
you to connect any number of computers ??”and even WiFi-enabled PDAs??”to form a
wireless LAN (WiFi antennas are typically internal, and are shown here only for
illustrative purposes)
Build Your Network | 349
Networking and
Internet
There??™s one crucial aspect of wireless networking that simply doesn??™t exist
on a wired network: intruders. By default, most wireless routers have no
security features enabled, meaning that any WiFi-enabled computer within
range can connect to your workgroup and use your Internet connection. See
???Set Up a Wireless Router,??? next, and ???Sniff Out WiFi Hotspots,??? later in
this chapter, for help securing your wireless network and connecting to
someone else??™s unsecured wireless network, respectively.
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