I'd like to do my lap-toping wirelessly

Can someone out there explain how I can sit in my easy chair with my iBook on the other side of the room from my cable modem and printer, and operate them without being tethered by an Ethernet cable? Friends not much brighter than me have tossed around words like router, AirPort Express, AirPort Card, with no explanations or approximate costs. Would someone with savvy kindly educate me?

Is my wireless scenario doable? What will I need? What will it cost? And can a dumb guy do it?

Yes, even you can do it. See the following link.

Have fun and be sure to ask questions if you run into difficulty.

Regards.

Very easy and not too expensive. I can't believe you still aren't wireless! I haven't used an ethernet cable in years!

it is very simple and besides, there are ppl here who can help you

and btw, you don't have to buy an apple wifi router, you can get one much cheaper and they can help you with that at any computer store ... and your iBook probably already has an AirPort Card (unless it's a Clamshell which had it as optional so you might not have it)

you also mentioned your printer, for that you need to watch out that the router has a function called Print Server (as far as I know), unfortunately I haven't set it up yet so I can't give you any feed back there .. planning it though

EDIT:
the link above shows Windows, on a Mac the preferences are under System Preferences/Network where you click on your Airport and then Advanced ... BUT, you might not even have to touch these Advanced settings
in the AirPort window make sure you have the "Show network status in menu" checked, and if you right click on the wireless icon in the menu bar, you will see all the available networks so u can just choose your own (of course after setting up the router)

It's also a good idea to have your network secured in some way, but that is different depending on the router you buy

chscag, ADKhikerVW, and scathe:

You three guys just broke my heart. The tears dripping off my chin ruined my necktie. I can't believe how much I suffered through ignorance for nothing. The Geek Squad link does everything but cook breakfast, and although it referenced Windows, it's simple enough to extrapolate to a Mac. I intend to proceed carefully, methodically, and ultimately lead a life of ease at my easy chair without wires all over the place. I owe you all a debt of gratitude for giving me confidence and getting me pumped up.