n our introduction to practical WiFi last month we looked at the differences between the various wireless networking standards. Fortunately, setting up the two most popular, 802.11b and 802.11g, is pretty much identical. All you have to do is decide which type of wireless network you require.

However, there is more to 802.11g than simply faster speed. They also (usually!) offer higher performance than 802.11b (see separate panel, "It’s more than just speed").

To briefly recap, there are two types of basic wireless networking: ad-hoc and infrastructure.

For either type, for each computer to be connected to the wireless network you’ll need a Wireless Network Adaptor (they’re also known by a variety of other names, such as a Wireless NIC, or network interface card; Wireless Dongle, Wireless Card and so on).

Many computers these days, especially newer laptops, come with the adaptor built in. But even many motherboards today offer integrated 802.11g facilities.