although i have been online for several years on dial-up, most of my time was spent updating my protection software and only visiting a few sites, restricting my downloads file sizes to 10mb or less.

all at once i am attached to adsl, have wireless lan connecting three pcs, 2 ancient, 1 slightly younger, by ethernet cables and 1 laptop with a pcmcia wireless card.

being able to whizz around the internet is wonderful, but i am terribly confused. i only really want one router. i got a medion, very pretty, with a dongle to attach to my laptop. the pcs co-operated wonderfully well and i got onto the net and had fun.

the headaches began with the wireless aspect of the setup. the dongle is reluctant to talk with the router except with no encryption whatever. these routers are advertised as having a huge range indoors and this thing cannot manage 50 feet or roughly 15m.

because i want to share my connexion with a neighbour, i need a router with range. as the dongle wouldn't seem to do the job i got a pcmcia card after another friend brought his laptop over and his 3com card worked happily with both his and my machines, albeit with no encryption.

the first card i bought dropped the signal about 25 feet from the router. i exchanged it for another make, whose signal also faded somewhat, but remained active at the required distance of 50 ft. the moment i applied encryption the signal dropped and i could no longer connect. this is nuts and it is driving me insane.

i bought another router, netgear. i cannot get it to connect to the internet, even though i have carefully followed all the instructions and entered the details correctly. in the literature it mentioned the use of more than one router in the network and this appealed as a way of solving the poor signal quality from the front room to the bedroom, albeit an expensive aerial.

at present, the first router is with me in the bedroom, where it is contentedly connected to the rest of the world, without, worryingly, any encryption. it simply won't have it. the second router remains in the front room connected to my pcs until such time as i can persuade it to join the internet. the laptop card is working perfectly.

i cannot fathom what i am doing wrong, because, it appears to me, that none of this kit is faulty, though the makers' range claims may be exaggerated. i know that i have set up my home and internet connexions correctly as i have been networking fo some years without any trouble. i followed the installation instructions exactly and entered all the information correctly.

i would welcome advice and suggestions on how to solve these conundra so that i can get on with enjoying my speedy connexion without all this messing about.

limewire is brilliant. several of my precious albums have gone walkabout over the years and i have been able to replace one or two lost and lamented pieces and acquire some music i had not heard before. it is an excellent way of trying out newly found artists.

although i have shared a number of my folders, and when i get my network sorted out satisfactorily, will share many more, i cannot tell whether other users have been able to access these files, which include music, applications packages and some small movies.

limewire is a detailed package, much of which defeats me technically. i am unfamiliar with the terminology and its' meaning, so, although i am sure the information i want, concerning uploading, is there, i am unsure how to find it.

new activities always present challenges and it takes time to acquire the knowledge to become conversant with the many aspects of the new toy. attaching a number of new pieces of equipment, learning new packages, becoming familiar with the way different websites work demands concentration and application.

i just want to play.