Laptop computer
WiFi PC Cards have been available for some time, but if you have a
modern laptop, you most likely have a better choice. For about the same
price as the aforementioned PC Card, an internal Mini-PCI adapter will
typically offer better range (thanks to the internal antenna likely already
present in your laptop) without the clumsy protrusion of a PC Card.
(See the ???Handheld PDA??? entry, later in this section, for information on
using Bluetooth with your laptop.) Another solution is explained in the
upcoming ???Quick and Dirty WiFi Piggyback??? sidebar.
Printer
Although you can connect a printer to a WiFi-equipped PC and share it
with the rest of your network (as explained in Chapter 8), a better
choice is to connect your printer directly to your wireless network.
Among other things, this means you don??™t have to connect any cables to
your laptop to print a document,* no specific PC must be turned on to
access the printer, and you have the option of placing the printer in a
more convenient location. To do this, you??™ll need a wireless print server
that plugs into the back of your printer. Then, simply install the software
that comes with your print server to create a virtual printer port on
your PC, to which your printer??™s drivers connect and send documents.
(See Chapter 8 for a way to print to a network printer without installing
any special software.)
* A number of years ago, printer manufacturers started including infrared ports on some printers,
allowing laptops with infrared ports to print to them wirelessly.
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