I am about to move in with my girlfriend. She has a laptop with wireless internet. I have a PC. What do I need to buy/use to be able to hook up to the internet with my pc? Can I do it wireless? Will it effect my connection speed if both of us are online?
Well if she's on wireless, is it from her router or is this an apartment with service? if it's her router, is your PC going to sit near the router? If so, you can hook up with a regular CAT 5 cable to what should be the built in Network card in your PC. If it's not going to be near the router, yes you can do wirelss with a Wireless PCI card. They don't cost too much and no it won't really slow you down. Unless of course you're like downloading torrents all day then yeah but that has nothing to do with it being wireless.
The only thing I would add is that your girlfriend should make sure that her wireless connection is encrypted. Personally, I wouldn't use anything less than WPA.
Keep in mind that anyone who has access to your wireless network can, POTENTIALLY, have access to your personal computer - even if your computer is connected to the router via a cable and not wireless. With all due respect, I get the sense your not the most technically inclined person in the world, and this is the simplest way to minimally protect your data.
There is a school of thought that this type of security is unnecessary. We live near a coffee shop, so clearly our needs are different. But I still think a minimal amount of security is better than nothing.
1) As mentioned before, use the CAT5 Ethernet cable(s). This will give you the fastest (and most realiable) connection speed. Due to you using a desktop, the cable makes sense because you aren't moving anywhere. This is my personal reccomendation.
2) Also as mentioned, use a Wireless PCI card. Slower conenction speeds but less cables.
3) Use a USB Wireless Adapter. I hate these kinds of devices, personally. The drivers are often flakey, and generally spekaing they can be a pain to set up.
This is all assuming of course that she is not running a Pre-Draft Wireless N Network. If she is, then you might want to consider running N as well so you don't downgrade her network. If you (and her) have no idea what I just said in this last paragraph, then simply use the first option. If you REALLY want wireless, then use the second option (Wireless PCI card).
Simple wireless security is always a good thing. Personally, I use WEP because that's all my DS supports. It may be less escure than WPA, but meh. I mean, seriously. People who REALLY want access to your network will find a way to do it anyways. All I want is enough to protect my network from others who want to leach bandwidth (which may result in throttling and/or my bandwidth limitation being exceeded).
(edited by El Nastio on 20.2.08 0716) Yes, I finally have updated the Troll Moment of the Week! This week is brought to you by ;
"STONEBOY!" , who brought us the following such pieces of wisdom as:
STONEBOY!: "THIS GOES MESSAGE GOES OUT TO ALL CANADIANS ESPECIALLY MONTREAL WHEREVER THE F#CK THAT IS".
Kidbrooklyn: "Please god tell me that you're making fun of the douche who started this thread...
Wait, no he isn't. He's serious. I hadn't read his previous brilliance before. I apologize" (in reference to a reply by James1978).
I'm trying to get my father to use Mozilla instead of MSN Explorer, and he's interested. Only problem is he has a ton of favorites and Mozilla doesn't seem willing to import them.