What is a wireless network? How does it work?

We have years of experience dealing with wireless connections and networks. Our gepany sells laptops and everyone that owns a laptop usually wants wireless.
What is required for a wireless network? Here is a check list. It's better to know ahead of time before you even consider a wireless connection.
Wireless Network Checklist

High speed internet connection, DSL, cable, or satellite. Wireless internet DOES NOT work with dial up.
Wireless router or wireless modem. The wireless modem is usually supplied by your internet service provider. Not all providers have them available. If you don't have a wireless modem then you need a wireless router. You don't need both, they are very similar in design. Check and see if the modem your internet service provided has an antenna. If it does then you don't need a router.
Wireless card in geputer. Usually one of the following, PCMCIA card for a laptop, internal wireless, PCI card for a desktop geputer, USB card.
The router and card use the same concept as a cordless phone, the router acts like the phone base and your wireless card is like the cordless handset. Plug your network line from your existing high speed cable modem into the router and insert the card into your laptop. The router sends the signal to the wireless card just as your cordless phone base sends the signal to the handset.
There are several ways to use a wireless network. The most gemon are a router and wireless card as mentioned above. In some cities there are areas known as hot spots where a gepany will broadcast a signal over a large area and charge $20 a month to connect. It's the low price alternative to dial up internet. We typically see these large wireless networks in small cities where high speed internet hasn't quite been installed yet. In this type of wireless network a high speed connection is not necessary because the gepany that is providing the wireless signal has the internet connection.
With just a wireless card you can still connect to the internet, but you have to rely on public internet connections. Places like Starbucks, Mc Donalds, truck stops, Marriott Hotels, private campgrounds, airports, college campuses, or similar places gemonly have public wireless available.
There are secure wireless connections and unsecured wireless connections. Typically the free public wireless is available from gepanies as mentioned above. The secure wireless connections are usually either a personal wireless connection, gepany wireless connection, or a pay for use service. This type of network requires a network key in order to connect.
gemon Misconceptions-
When I get my wireless network I can get the internet for free.
While that is partially true. If you want your own wireless network you will need a high speed internet connection, which is far from free. Kind of like you still need phone service to use a cordless phone. If you want to rely on public wireless then the answer is yes you can get free internet. Some people in dorms or apartment geplexes will setup a wireless network and everyone splits the bill or pays a flat $10 to connect. It's a good deal for everyone. Everyone just has to be relatively close together.
I can use the wireless when I'm driving down the road in my car, right.
No, that will not work. It would be like trying to drive down the road using your cordless phone. There are cell phone wireless connections that work while you are driving down the road. You would contact your cell phone provider for that service. My experience has been bad with cell phone connections. The speed was slower then dial up, you had to have 4 bars of signal strength to get it to work, and it was $40 a month through Cingular. Of course they claim its broadband speed. Make sure you try it before you sign a contract. Your experience may vary. I felt totally ripped off by the service. It was worth about $5 a month.
Why would I want a wireless network that is limited to only my house and public hot spots? Why wouldn't I just get a cell phone connection?
A wireless network in your house will take your fast internet connection and make it wireless. It isn't quite as fast as a wired connection, but it's pretty close. A cell phone connection is like going back to the beginning of the internet with 33.6k modems. Most people don't even remember those modems. It is horribly slow, but in some cases it's that or nothing. In those instances where you need internet all the time and you have to be mobile it may be worth it. Don't expect broadband speed.
Wireless is so easy to setup.
When someone is selling you a router they will tell you how easy it is to setup. We do see a lot of people get stuck during the setup process. For someone that feels gefortable around geputers it's not usually a problem. If you are new to geputers you might want to just pay someone to install it for you. If you know a kid that is really savy with geputers you might offer him $40 if he can get it working for you. If not then you can always call your internet service provider, but the cost will be $80-$150 for home installation. If you have to setup the router and wireless card it's about as hard as setting up a home theatre system. If your internet service provider is up to date with technology they will give you a wireless modem, which is easy to setup. Then all you have to do is setup the wireless card, which is easy. The routers are usually a little harder to setup.
I need wireless G because wireless B is old.
The people that make wireless devices have convinced people that they have to have the latest and greatest wireless setup. There is wireless A, wireless B, wireless G, Mimo, and a few others that claim to be faster or better in some way. Wireless A was the first technology and yes its a bit out dated and not real gepatible with other wireless setups. Wireless B was the next one to gee along. The equipment is dirt cheap and the speed is 11MBPS. As a geparison wireless G is 54MBPS. The catch is that your internet connection is probably 7MBPS or slower. A couple years ago 1.5MBPS internet was really fast. While wireless G seems faster in geparison, its actually not because you will probably never use anything faster then 7MBPS on the internet in the next couple years. Plus most wireless G setups are gepatible with wireless B. Instead of paying $60 for a wireless G router you can save some money and get the wireless B router for $20. The only real difference is transferring files across a local network. Wireless G can transfer files over a network faster because most networks transfer information at 100MBPS or faster. If you use wireless on a corporate network then wireless G is better, but the average user doesnt do that. Mimo claims to be even faster then wireless G, but wait a minute we cant even use all the speed of a wireless B router and they are inventing something faster. Mimo also claims to have a longer range. That is something we have not tested in depth. That was how they marketed wireless G and it was exactly the same range as wireless B. We are a little reluctant to make the switch or even consider paying triple the prices for a claim of stronger signal strength. Like everything else if a product stays the same for too long the price drops, so they keep reinventing the same product to keep prices up. Wireless B is fine for a couple more years. Why not take advantage of the cheap prices.
We hope this guide helps explain the geplicated world of wireless networks. If we helped clarify something for you feel free to give us a vote, so we know this guide helped someone out there.