At present I have adsl b/b with tiscali. I have a tel extension cable from my front door running round skirting boards upstairs to my pc's modem. I was hoping I could get a asdl b/b router modem to replace this cabling (just altered house - ext built), ie adsl tel line>router>wireless connection to pc via router/usb 2.0 adapter.



However, reading my netgear manual suggests that I need to have the pc connected to the router via ethernet cable. Is this true? I thought I would be aiming to eliminate cabling.



Only one pc at present but purchasing 2 more for children.



help! If wireless is only possible for additional pcs and one pc must be connected to a router then I am no better off and have to install cables...

I'm not an expert on wireless networking as I have a wired network, however, as you said, it would be silly to have a wireless network if it still required wires.

What I think you may have read in your manual, is that when you initially setup a wireless network, you need to first of all physically connect your router to a computer so you can access the settings and then once setup you can use a wireless connection.

I setup a wireless network for a friend and he had to have one computer connected for the initial setup and then all the computers could use a wireless connection, but so that he didn't have to buy another wireless adapter, he kept one computer wired and the other wireless.

If you tell me the model of your Netgear router, I'll take a look at the manual and double check for you.

Owen's right - you'll need a PC cabled to the router in order to get it set up. That's because wireless connections aren't enabled and secured by default. You have to choose your own password etc for the wireless functionality. So, in order to set the password and security details, you'll need to be cabled to the router in order to access those settings. Once it's all set up, unplug the cable, reboot everything and 'hey presto', you'll have a wireless network.

Well, that's the idea at least. Bear in mind that wireless networks signals are affected by walls and anything that blocks their path. Thick load-bearing walls are the worst obstructions. If you have placed the router in the extension at the front of the house and then the signal has to get through the brickwork on the outside of the original building, then through the house and past/through load-bearing walls in the middle of the house and then up the stairs to a bedroom at the back of the house, for example, your signal might not be powerful enough to reach the PC effectively.