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Got the networking bug? Whether you plan to set up a wireless network or you have one in place already, our networking guide is for you. You'll find a truckload of tips to raise an existing network to a more-sophisticated level.

Whether it ties together an office or a house full of computers, your network is only as good as what you can make it accomplish. We discuss the best ways to share existing resources, like your printer. We show you how to add oomph to your network's performance--and how to repel intruders from your wireless turf. You'll find easy fixes for common networking snags. And we provide tips on how to turn your network into a lean, mean entertainment system.

If you haven't bought your networking equipment yet--or you're thinking of upgrading to wireless--see our review of ten leading gateways. Based on testing conducted by the PC World Test Center, our report evaluates each wireless product, with special emphasis on ease of use and reliability.

1. Share Your Devices

Though sharing Internet access is the most obvious reason to set up a network, the benefits of sharing devices are equally clear. Windows lets you share printers, scanners, modems, and drives--no more clambering up and down the stairs, floppy in hand, to open files on the one computer that's attached to a printer. In addition, allowing multiple users joint access to various drives on your PC enables you to share files easily. You're out of luck, however, if you want to share other devices such as cameras or MP3 players: Windows gives these units no way of exposing themselves to other computers on the network. That will change over the next few years, according to Microsoft product manager Greg Sullivan. The Universal Plug and Play Forum is developing connectivity and control standards for other types of devices.

Share your printer: You probably enabled the whole network to share printers connected to individual computers when you first set it up. If you didn't do this--or if you recently installed a new printer that you want to share across your network--both Windows XP and Windows 2000 make the process easy: Begin by selecting Start, Printers and Faxes (or Start, Settings, Printers in Win 2000); then right-click the printer name, select Sharing, and choose Shared As or Share this Printer. In either Windows 98 or Windows Me, right-click Network Neighborhood, select Properties, and click the Enable file and printer sharing button. Note, however, that you will need to have printer drivers on hand for every version of Windows you have running. Make sure you have a Windows 98 driver so that the printer can connect to your Win 98 PC, an XP driver so that the printer can work with the Windows XP machine, and so on.

Share your drive: In Windows XP or 2000, the first step in sharing folders or drives is to right-click the folder or drive in My Computer and choose a Sharing... menu option. The details vary with every Windows version. (Of course, you need to decide at the outset whether you want to restrict the shared options or whether you're willing to leave every computer on the network exposed.) See " Here's How: Give Others Access to Your Folders" for a quick reference.

When selecting folders to share, you can password-protect folders and assign different access rights to different users, if you like. A sensible network administrator will recommend creating a specific folder on each PC for shared documents, rather than opening up whole drives to the network (even if you have a firewall).

Share your dial-up: Do you have a backup plan in case your vital broadband connection goes down? If you're willing to endure a rather tedious process, you can share your dial-up connection. See " Share Your Dial-Up Connection" for instructions.

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