Networks are becoming so popular that it is hard not to pickup wireless networks from almost any geographic location within a town or city. Of course most of these networks will be secured, meaning that you will need a password to access them, but you get the idea: networks in today’s world are essential and part of everyday life. It should be in your best interest to get connected and start sharing files right away, or whatever it is you wish to do. The possibilities are endless. This information is focused around getting connected with a laptop (notebook) computer, so you will need a laptop network card. Don’t worry if you are not tech savvy, we are about to go into some detail…

First things first… you should not buy anything you don’t need. I say this because most modern laptops will have an internal network card, usually catering for both cable and wireless networks. A local area network (LAN) cable will plug into an RJ-45 compliant port which is a bit wider than a telephone plug. You should check the sides of your laptop to see if such a port is available. If you are checking for an internal wireless network card, there should be some information on the bottom of your laptop concerning it. If you fail to see any clues, consult your manual or dealer. This is the quickest way of knowing if your laptop is already equipped with the required hardware. You can also check in the Windows Device Manager for any available hardware.

No hardware? No problem. Before purchasing anything you should determine what kind of network you want to connect to. At the office or even places like coffee shops, there should be a wireless network available for you to connect to so you will not have to plug in any cables. Some people, however, prefer to go with cables purely for speed and reliability purposes. Once you have made up your mind you will easily be able to find a cheap Ethernet card available for purchase online. Of course you can choose to go in both directions if you want to access wireless networks as well as cable networks, but most people will just need one connection type.

The laptop network card you purchase will be able to connect to your laptop either via your Smartcard, PCMCIA or USB port. Whichever device you decide on will be based on your personal needs and what you deem applicable. PCMCIA is ‘sort of’ dying out and is being replaced by USB adaptors. You will find thousands of different USB network cards available for purchase online at very good prices. If you buy a USB adaptor an advantage is that you will be able to use it on both desktop or notebook computers, so it is not necessarily limited to a laptop. The device you purchased will come coupled with its drivers. Windows will detect the device when you plug it in and prompt you for the drivers and you are good to go!