The cost will vary depending on the type of equipment you choose to purchase for your setup. If you know a bit about computers and understand connections etc you can probably do it. One of the most important points is to make your setup secure so that it is not open for others to see and get on. Here is a pretty good guide, if you do some google searches there is a wealth of info on this topic and on the equipment to use. For wireless I suggest always going with the newest technology available it will be more secure. And here is the guide by microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/wirelesssetup.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/learnmore/bowman_05june13.mspx this one has pictures of components http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1428 when you are considering your components do searches for them on a site like newegg.com, there you can read the specs for the item and also a list of comments about that item by actual owners. Here is a link that might be useful: guide

I also got a netbook for use when traveling, my choice was to get the ATT air card for mine that way no matter where I am I can use the air card to connect. It is secure and I am the only one using it. When at home I can either plug directly into my router with an ethernet cable or use my air card until I move to a wireless router in the future. I had my cell phones with ATT anyway so I went with them but there are other companies that have air cards such as Verizon and Sprint, I did comparisons and the ATT and Verizon seemed the best and both are about the same price, there is a cost for the card but they had a rebate that paid fully for the card, I have a monthly fee for the card just like if it was a cell phone and in fact it does assign it a cell phone number. so anywhere you would have cell phone coverage you would be able to use it. I have not been anywhere yet that I did not get a signal. For the price they want to charge you for that one week you could pay for your air card for a month.

Mike, do you like scaring people with suggestive and (in my opinion) misleading comments? The WEP "encryption" (it's a stretch to call it that) was broken years ago. It's easily defeated and is essentially open. That's not even old news. it's very old news. WPA2 is difficult to crack, and a financial conversation using https is very, very, very difficult to intercept. I won't say impossible, but beyond the reach of other than top pros. I think any user here should feel completely safe in using a properly secured home PC and WPA2 wifi signal to conduct any nature of communications over the internet. Yes, a wire can be more secure but the EM radiation wires and PCs emit can also be intercepted too. Are you suggesting every home needs radiation shielding?

Many thanks for your thoughtful responses. There is no Agere ORiNOCO IEEE; so that settles the matter convincingly and conclusively. I do tend to get attached to the familiar; once I have become familiar with them. I have got a "Montgomery Ward's" radiogram that works. I have some vinyl LP records that I play on it. There is a "Kodak" Instamatic 304 camera with a (dead) flash cube. I had tons of fun with an "Endeavor" Fujifilm camera. I often remark that I grew up in the dark age - when we used a developer tank in a dark room. I occasionally use a microscope that I acquired during my student days. But nothing can compare to the "VIC 20" - the first computer I ever owned. A friend taught me the rudiments of BASIC programming and my best effort was a program to troubleshoot lawn problems. (I am an Agriculturist by training and experience). I passed the VIC on to my wife's nephew. Having said all that, can you guess how many times I have been married? All the best for the season. Ron.