Absolute Beginner's Guide to Wi-Fi® Wireless Networking

Chapter 13. Buying a Wi-Fi Access Point or Router

In this chapter

• Understanding network hardware

• Wireless networking kits

• Choosing a Wi-Fi access point

• The AirPort Extreme Base Station

• The Linksys Wireless Broadband Router

Perhaps you've tried Wi-Fi on the road and have seen how great it is! It's also okay if you haven't! In any case, you are ready to “unwire” your home or small office by adding a Wi-Fi network.

You'll find that it's very easy to create a Wi-Fi network from scratch (or to add Wi-Fi to an existing Ethernet network).

This chapter gets you started building your own Wi-Fi network. There are quite a number of different pieces of hardware (or hardware combinations) you can use to do this, which can seem a bit overwhelming. But, fear not! ...