Setting Up Wireless Adapters and Network Interface Cards
For your client computers to connect to your WLAN, each of them must have a wireless adapter or wireless NICThese adapters are small transceivers (radio transmitter/receivers) that allow your PC to send and receive radio signalsThere are three main types of Wi-Fi adapters available for your WLAN: USB wireless adapters, wireless NICs, and PCMCIA cards.
A USB wireless adapter connects to your computer through its USB portIt is simple to install and enables you to adjust the location of the adapter to improve signal receptionYou install a wireless NIC in a PCI slot within the computer, just like an Ethernet card; a wireless NIC installed within a computer saves desktop spaceFor a laptop computer, the best choice is a PCMCIA card adapter that fits in the laptop's PC card slot
Caution: Always turn off me Power to your computer when installing internal network adaptersYou usually won't need to turn off the computer to insert PCMCIA cards or USB devices, but you may have to reboot to finish the installation.
Any time you open the case of a computer you need to take special careAlways turn off the power and unplug the cordDon't force adapters into PCI slots, and be careful of dropping things like screws into the caseYou also should wear an anti-static wrist strap to avoid damaging components with static electricity.
Wireless adapters have two modes of operation, infrastructure and ad hocInstallation of adapters is usually very simpleOnce you install or connect the adapter to the client PC, Windows (assuming you are using Windows) usually recognizes the new hardware and prompts you to insert a disk with the appropriate drivers.