The Right Coast

December 06, 2003
 
Wireless heaven
By Tom Smith

I finally have a wireless network in my house. I'm in wireless heaven. And I did it all by myself. OK. I didn't. My computer savvy nephew was in town for the baptism of our latest procreative effort, now a thoroughly clean milk bottle (pre Vatican II Catholic joke), and he, my nephew, helped. However, it was so easy I think I could have done it.

The thing to do, I think, is use Linksys products. Get a Wireless-B broadband router, the kind with four ports on the front and two little antennae. Then get Wireless B or G notebook adaptors for your notebooks, and that's it! The installation is a snap, at least with Windows XP, and then it screams, as they say.

Perhaps I should note I got the stuff at Staples, which carries a good selection of Linsys components in the Business Networking section. Their computer people were really helpful and gave me advice that was enthusiastic and completely inaccurate. They were, it turns out nearly entirely clueless, but they did a very good imitation of people who knew how to set up a network.

It's a wonder of technology. I even asked my lovely wife, Jeanne, if it wasn't amazing. She said, "yes, it's amazing." Now I can blog at the dinner table. You can imagine how thrilled everyone is.