I recently bought a laptop and would like to network it together with my 8250 desktop via a Linksys BEFSR81 Instant Broadband EtherFast Cable / DSL Router with built-in 8-Port 10/100 switch (not wireless; that step will come later). I'm running XP Home on both PC's.  When I run the Network Setup Wizard from my desktop, it first wants to know how the PC accesses the internet, and offers three options:

- This computer connects directly to the Internet.  The other computers on my network connect to the Internet through this computer.
- This computer connects to the Internet through another computer on my network or through a residential gateway.
- Other

Since I'd like to be able to access the net from either PC without having to turn on the other, I was inclined to choose "Other," which then offers three more options:

- This computer connects directly or through a network hub.  Other computers on my network also connect to the Internet directly or through a hub.
- This computer connects directly to the Internet.  I do not have a network yet.
- This computer belongs to a network that does not have an Internet connection.

The first option seemed like the right one, with the Linksys serving as the network hub.  But when I choose this, MS throws up a warning:

"This network configuration is not recommended because more than one computer connects directly to the internet.  There is no reliable way to share files between computers while protecting your computer from Internet security threats.  MS recommends a network in which all computers connect to the Internet through a single computer or through a residential gateway.  This wizard will enable the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) on this computer.  ICF will protect this computer from Internet security threats, but it might also prevent this computer from sharing files with computers on your network."

Since file sharing is one of the main reasons I want to network my PC's (the other reasons are to share my printers and my Outlook calendar), this doesn't sound good. 

So, how do you network your PC's?  Is the Linksys router itself considered to be a "residential gateway?"  If you use one computer as a common internet access point (as MS suggests), does that PC have to constantly be running, and do other PC's on the network need to use it as a proxy server?  What workgroup name do you use (or doesn't it matter)?

And to make this pertinent to the forum topic, my new laptop comes with a Broadcom 802.llg WiFi card installed, and I just purchased a D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router with DWL-G650 PC Card combination package (the PC Card is superfluous, but I may be getting another laptop without built-in WiFi; I also know folks here prefer Linksys, and I haven't opened this yet so can return it if there is a significant advantage to going with a Linksys wireless router rather than D-Link).  Since my desktop is already up and running on the wired Linksys router, and since all I had to do was run another RJ-45 cable from a free port in my Linksys router to my laptop's built-in ethernet port to gain internet access on it, my plan is to get file and printer sharing working with the current configuration before attempting the wireless access with the D-Link (at which point, I'm hoping I can just run the RJ-45 cable that's now plugged into the laptop into the D-Link router, then connect via my laptop's WiFi from there; is this viable?).

Sorry for all of the questions, but I've never done a network before and fear that making the wrong decision will screw things up sufficiently to lead down the (seemingly inevitable) path of an XP re-install (the horror, the horror...).

Many thanks in advance,
Dan