What I Need for Wireless Broadband

Wireless uses radio waves to transmit data like wires. It uses a specific radio frequency to transmit data between your computer and your internet connection. A wireless transmitter will take a normal wired Internet signal and transmit that signal to any computers with a receiver. Your computer will also send data back to the transmitter via radio waves, and the transmitter will take the data in the radio wave and convert it into a signal that it transmits over the wired connection.

Wireless Internet works with any type of broadband Internet. One common version of broadband Internet is a Direct Subscriber Line, or DSL, which uses your telephone wires to transmit data. Another common form of broadband Internet, a cable connection, uses the same coaxial cable that brings cable television to your home. Your local Internet providers may provide one or the other or both.

A wireless transmitter takes the wired Internet connection in your home and converts the wired signal into wireless radio waves. People also call a wireless transmitter a Wireless Access Point, or WAP. Many Internet service providers will combine the wireless transmitter with the router, the device that allows your computer to connect to the internet with a wired connection. A router that also has a wireless transmitter is typically called a wireless router. If your broadband provider does not give you a wireless transmitter or a wireless router themselves, many electronics stores sell them.

The final requirement for a wireless connection is a wireless receiver for your computer. This receiver allows your computer to exchange data with your wireless transmitter. Wireless has become increasingly common, so many computers, especially laptops, have a built-in wireless receiver. If your computer does not have an internal wireless receiver, you can purchase a USB wireless receiver, which plugs into one of your computer's USB ports and functions in the same way.