I have a wired network with 4 computers and 2 replayTV's at home. I want to add wireless access for a new laptop. What do I need to get? An access point? A router? If I get a wireless router and plug it in to the wired router, will the protocols conflict with each other, or is there some special set-up to do?

If you already have a wired router, get an access point.

Might as well get a good wireless router and replace the one you have, old plug it into the older one. You will probably pay just as much for an access point. Search Engines Are Your Friends ☺ Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"

An access point is usually more expensive than a wireless router due to manufacturing demand [less for APs more for wifi routers] With an additional wireless router you can have both your wired router and a AP. You connect via crossover cable from wired router lan to wireless router lan. You assign a static ip address [if gateway is .1 set this new router to .2] to the wireless router and disable dhcp. You now have what you want which is a wireless ap as well as 3 more lan ports for your network. If your wired router dies replace it with this one. Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?

Additional info in case you need: How to configure wireless router as access point only http://www.home-network-help.com/wi...

Thank you! The reason I am not just getting a wireless router to replace the wired one is that I can only find one wireless router that has 8 wired ports and doesn't cost a ton of money - that's a NetGear one and I don't know if they are reliable or not. Most wireless routers only have 4 wired ports and I need 6. Thanks for the info - it was really helpful!

??? if you follow the advice you will have 6 available ports between the two routers [wired and wireless]. Don't chose a router on how many wired ports since you can add a switch via crossover at any time and 100mb switches are cheap. Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?