Installing and configuring a Wireless Router

A wireless router affords laptop or portable computer users greater mobility in their homes and businesses. In most home networks, wireless routers are connected to a cable or DSL modem, and the router sends the signals and information that make up an Internet protocol (IP) thread to the user's computer via radio signals rather than wires. To communicate with the wireless router, individual computers house transceivers such as an internal expansion card, a peripheral docked by USB or, in the case of laptops, a PC card or hard-wired internal device. For those accessing the Internet through a high-speed connection, a wireless router can also serve as a hardware firewall (as opposed to a software program), enabling protection from undesirable outside computers without exhausting as many system resources as traditional firewall programs.