Set Up a Wireless Network in a Small Office

1. Getting started

Networking your small business so you can easily share internet connections, files and printers doesn't require a major commitment of time or expense. A wireless network requires two main components:

•	Base station (also called a router or gateway)
•	Network adapter for each computer on your network

In a wireless network, radio waves are used to communicate between each networked computer's wireless adapter and the wireless base station. The base stations and adapters follow one of the 802.11 radio transmission standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The most popular versions of these standards are often referred to as Wi-Fi.

You can purchase base stations and network adapters from major computer retailers and simply follow the instructions to set them up. Once you've done so, you can start configuring your network. The steps that follow describe setting up workgroups and file and print sharing, and apply to both wireless and wired networking.

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