I am wanting to network my laptop to my desktop. Both machines are running ME, have Ethernet cards installed and are in different areas of the house. Also, I have a cable modem. What are my best options? Should I use a wireless router? More than one IP address? Is the Networking Wizard in ME really as easy as it sounds? Also, I noticed when looking at the Networking Wizard it only lets you share files in the My Documents folder. Is there a work around for this?

A wireless network is fairly expensive for just connecting a PC and a laptop. A wired network is cumbersome and involves crawling around in the attic stringing CAT5 wiring between the rooms. Again, something of overkill. A phone line "wireless" network is reasably inexpensive but notoriously unreliable over legacy phone lines and you need phone jacks in the rooms you want to connect. Still, in your case I would try the phone LAN solution first. Unless you don't mind running CAT5 or USB cables along the baseboards. A kit will cost you $60-$100USD (see URL below) and will probably do for you.

The phone line kit is a good idea and is exactly what I set up. It will allow you to share any file or Drive you want if you enable it. Although slow at file transfer 10 mbs it is more than adequate for internet and most files. Slow for gaming or running programs remotely. You might have a problem sharing your cable connection through it though. Netgear makes a very nice set or you can just purchase the two cards for about $20.00 each and a couple of RJ11 cords for a modem/phone connection. Everything else is on the setup disk supplied with the NIC. HTH.

If I were to set up a wireless network, what else do I need besides my cable router and cable modem? I have NIC's installed on each machine internally. Do I need adapters, bridges etc?