Do you have cable or dsl internet service?  If so, is your cable or dsl modem capable of connecting to a computer or router by ethernet?  If it will only connect by USB, then you will also need a new modem capable of connecting by ethernet.   A wireless router will you to connect up to 4 computer to the the cable or dsl modem through the router by a wired ethernet connection and will allow the connection of many more by wireless.  You will need to have a wireless network card in your laptop in order for this to work.  With the wireless router and wireless network card, you should be able to connect anywhere in an near your house, but the quality of the signal will depend on the type of construction of any obstacles present between the computer and the router. Note that there is no need to purchase the more expensive high-speed, Super G, or Pre-N routers, as they will provide no increase in speed for the internet connection.  A regular 802.11G wireless router from Linksys, Netgear, or D-Link should work quite well.

 

Steve

ok, I guess i'm not making myself very clear. I will be taking down the pc and only using my laptop. I presently have a dial up with my pc but would prefer not to use that if I can go to dsl or cable. My original question I think was: Do I need a router and if so, what kind? My second ? is if I have all of the items mentioned already installed, is my next step getting dsl or cable and purchasing a router to do all of the wireless stuff from my home. Sorry if I was  not clear in the first place. Not sure of right ?'s

That is an extremely important thing that you "forgot to mention".  Having a dialup connection makes things much much more complicated.   You will have to make the dialup connection with the PC.  The PC will require an ethernet network adapter so that it can connect to the router by ethernet.  The router will have to placed in "Access Point Mode" so that it does not act as a dhcp server, you will have to run Windows' built in Internet Connection Sharing on the PC in order for it to share the dialup connection (assuming that the the PC is running at least Windows 98SE), and the computer will have to be running anytime you want an internet connection of the wireless network.

 

Steve

Opps, forgot to let you know that no, I don't have any of the dsl or cable yet. That is what I was trying to figure out.   I have a really good local provider now for my dial up with my pc and I can probably go through them, just needed to be sure of what I had or needed to get  before i did anything.

Now you are confusing me.  If you want to have a wireless connection to the internet through your laptop, you will either need to get cable/dsl service and a router and do as I suggested in my first reply, or,  if you want to continue using the dialup connection and have that connection fed throughout your house so you can connect to the internet wirelessly through your new laptop, then you must have a PC to make the dialup connection and feed it to the router, as I suggested in my second reply.   In either case you will need a router, and I made the suggestion about which routers to get in my first reply. 

 

Steve