I'm going to have a little down time starting tomorrow. I am having foot surgery and won't be able to walk on one foot for two weeks, which will limit my mobility. So today I'm preparing my temporary office on the first floor of our home. Thankfully, several months ago I invested in a home networking system, so with my laptop I'll be able to access the Internet from upstairs.

For those of you who already have a home network, please indulge me while I explain how the system works to those who don't. Setting up a network is actually very simple. I don't know why I didn't do it earlier, but I suspect I was a little leery of the unknown.

The first thing you must have is a wireless router. This router is connected to the LAN port on your computer and your Internet connection is connected to the router. This allows you to access the Internet from afar (within your house). I purchased a Belkin 2.4 Ghz 802.11g Wireless Router. I think I paid about $60 for mine. This one comes with a stand, so if you're short on desk space, you can stand it up.

The next thing you need to purchase (if you don't already have one) is a LAN card or adaptor for your laptop or other computer. Make sure to purchase the 802.11g technology, rather than the 802.11b, as the “g” is faster. For my laptop, I purchased a Belkin 802.11g Wireless Notebook Network Card for another $60. For our other computer, I purchased a Belkin 802.11g Wireless PCI Adaptor for about $50. Make sure to see what type of slot you have available in your computer before you purchase.

Once you have all of these items in place, you'll be able to access the Internet and share printers from any of your equipped computers. To share files, you'll need to put the files you want to share into a folder that you have set as a shared folder. To do this, open Windows Explorer, find the folder you want to share, right click on that folder and select Sharing and Security. In the “Network sharing and security box,” click in the box next to “Share this folder on the network.” You'll then need to give that folder a name and choose whether you will allow network users to change the files. Then you're set!

From the remote computer, launch Windows Explorer, click on the plus next to My Network Places, click on the plus next to Entire Network, and then click on the plus next to Microsoft Windows Network. You should have a choice there called MSHome. Click on the plus next to it and the computers on your network should appear. That's how you find the files you want to work with.

Keep in mind that you'll need to leave the main computer on in order to access it remotely.