Other approaches use telephone wires and electrical wiring. In either case, the network is easy to set up as long as the machines you want to connect are near phone jacks or power outlets. However, desktops are not the only computers. Installing a wireless network still takes some work. Most require you to open the computer case and slide in a network interface card.
Wireless networks are still a bit more costly than the wired kind.
That is nearly 20 times as fast as the fastest conventional modem, and speedier than a cable modem or DSL line, though slower than the 10 megabits a second standard in office networks. Work is under way on a new wireless network standard, called 802.11b, that will allow speeds of 11 megabits a second. One of the first questions many people ask about wireless networks is how secure they are. Mr. Tidd says no. Wireless LAN products have multiple layers of security, he says, and also have the ability to change frequencies to avoid interference from neighbouring networks and other devices such as microwave ovens.