do you have to have a wireless card to connect a desktop computer to a wireless router?

Question

If I want to connect a couple desktop computers throughout my house to one router with cable internet, do I have to purchase wireless cards to plug into my computers in order to be able to connect them to the one network?

Answer 1

Yes, the wireless card is what picks up the signal from the router.

Answer 2

The answer is YES and NO. Most wireless routers also come with standard network points (usually about 4) so the computer(s) that are close to your router can be plugged in by cable (which is also usually faster than wireless). The other computers that are far away from your router like in other rooms etc it would make most sense to install wireless cards for them unless you want to run long cables to the router...

Answer 3

You can do two things here. Either purchase individual wireless cards for each desktop, or connect a small switch to the cable modem router and distribute from there. The only disadvantage is that you will need to run cat5 wires to each PC from the switch. You will need to weight if purchasing wireless cards for each PC will cost more than connecting a switch, which are very cheap averaging from $40 dollars, or getting wireless cards that can cost up to $30 dollars each.

Answer 4

Bottom line: Yes. However, you have to make sure the output of the router for the internet (basically the wireless internet box that you obviously own) matches the cards you purchase. E.G. Wireless A, B, G..

Answer 5

There are many solutions to connect computers to a wireless router.

* Wireless ethernet card.
* USB pluggable ethernet device
* PCMCIA/PCcard ethernet device

Those are just some. I like the USB ones because
USB is pretty fast, and it is portable, so in a pinch you
can pull it and use it in another sitation or in a laptop
too if you have to, but an internal is hard to take out
or move.

The downside is that some USB devices do not perform
that well, check out whatever you get online in the web sites
that review hardware.

Answer 6

If your desktop computers don't have wireless adapters, then yes, you would need to install wireless cards (USB or PCI) to each one to connect to the same wireless router. Make sure your computers are all in the same workgroup or else you won't be able to share files/printers between them. The other solution is to buy the ethernet cables and connect each computer's ethernet port to the router's ethernet ports.

Answer 7

This is assuming that your router is a wireless model (it has an antennae) You can go with by installing a wireless card, or purchase a USB enabled wireless adapter. It's two options you can play depending on if you want to open up your computer to install a card or take up a USB port to gain wireless ability.

Answer 8

Nearly all wireless routers have at least a few wired Ethernet ports too. If one of your computers is close enough to the router to run a cable, you can do that & save a few bucks.

Answer 9

Yes, a card is required but depending on the age of your computer you may not need to buy one.

For many computers that are over two years old, you would need to buy a new one. But top of the line computers two years ago--aka todays lower mid-range computer--are all pre-equipped with wireless connectitivity.

Honestly though, wireless internet is not the way to go. It has very low security levels--they are improving though--and are easily hijacked. Without realizing you could be paying for your next door neighbor to access the internet.

Answer 10

Yes. They sell PCI cards (ones that go inside the computer) or you can buy ones that just stick into the USB port on the back of the desktop. Much easier to install and works just as good. Some are really small like a USB memory stick.