Do I have to buy a wireless card to use the wireless feature

Hello and thank you for using Fixya ..
I understood that your laptop do not have a wireless capability , and you wish to have this feature ...The easiest way for to do this job is to install a wireless card ..or to buy and use a USB one ..There are a lot of usb based wireless cards..and they work just fine ..It will be needed to install the driver for it ..cause windows has no drivers build in for them ...but usually the wireless cards (usb ) came with a disk with the driver ..or the driver is available on the manufacturer's support site ..
After installing such a card (looks like a USB memory stick ) it will behave just like one built into the laptop ..and the only limitations will be those imposed by the card's performances ..
Have a nice day ..!

No wireless on this laptop you would need to use a usb wireless adapter
roduct Details and Features Product MPN MPN
PS280U-ELCLOH Key Features Laptop Type
Mid-Size Laptop Use
Home Use Processor
Pentium III 650 MHz Hard Drive
10 GB Display
14.1 in. TFT Active Matrix Operating System
Microsoft Windows ME Weight
7.3 lb. Processor Processor Manufacturer
Intel Processor Type
Pentium III Processor Speed
650 MHz Motherboard Bus Speed
100 MHz Memory Installed RAM
128 MB Max Supported RAM
384 MB Installed Cache Memory
256 KB Hard Drive Hard Drive Capacity
10 GB CD / DVD CD / DVD Type
DVD-ROM Optical Drive Read Speed
8x (DVD) Other Drives Floppy Drive
3.5" 1.44 MB floppy Display Display Tech
TFT Active Matrix Screen Size
14.1 in. Video Installed Video Memory
8 MB Audio Audio Output Type
Sound card Operating System Operating System
Microsoft Windows ME Platform
PC Technical Features Input Method
Keyboard Networking Networking Type
Integrated Network Card Data Link Protocol
Ethernet • Fast Ethernet Modem Modem Type
Modem Analog Modulation Protocol
ITU V.90 Battery Battery Run Time
2 Hours Battery Technology
Lithium ion Dimensions Width
12.9 in. Depth
10.7 in. Height
1.5 in. Weight
7.3 lb. Warranty Warranty
1 Year Miscellaneous Product ID
20789390 Family Line
Toshiba Satellite

Dear Sir,
Welcome to fixya....
Please let us tell you about the wireless internet connectivity, for connecting to a wireless medium you must have a wireless (wiFi) card installed to you system which can serve the function of sending and receiving wireless data signals, which unfortunately are not commonly pre-installed int desktop computers.. the alternative to them are external cards and antennas(wireless routers) which can serve the purpose.. such a d-link or tp-link.... please rate this solution and then visit this website in order to switch to d-link official website where u can search your product and where to buy it....

You should be able to see there might be an antenna on the back of your computer which is part of the wireless network adaptor. I checked the specification of your computer and did not see wireless card included. You may need to buy one internal wireless card or a USB wireless card to use wireless feature. You will need to install the driver and configure it to use a wireless access point on some of the wireless cards. Usually you can turn on wireless by using network connection or using the connect to item in the start menu if you are using Windows Vista.

Go to START, Control Panel, System, Hardware and search the listing for network cards and see if you laptop shows a wireless card. If it does than you should be able to go to Network Connections and see if you can scan for wireless connections.

Sometimes these laptop need special drivers to enable their wireless card features or hardware based on/off switches for the radios.

Your computers bios might also have the WLAN turned off. Watch the start screen for the button to press for bios and push it and look around to see if there is a WLAN on/off feature and make sure its on.

Good luck and be careful!

It just means that it does not have built in wireless. You can buy a USB wireless adapter to use on it. They usually run around $30 dollars but sometimes you can find then on sale.

The link below will take you to a page on the Acer Web site that shows the specs for this laptop. According to the specs, this laptop does not come with onboard wireless (if this feature were part of the system, it would be listed in the specs). Also, you can check Device Manager to see if you have a Wireless Adapter listed under Network Adapters. If you don't see any type of Wireless adapter listed then you'll definitely know that your laptop doesn't have it built in.

To access Device Manager:
Right-click My Computer
Click Properties
Click Manage
In the left navigation pane, click Device Manager.
In the larger window, scroll down the list to Network Adapters.
Expand the Network Adapters tree to see the installed adapters.

http://www.acersupport.com/notebook/html/tm243lc_specs.html

However, the specs do show that this laptop has 2 PC Card slots. These slots give you at least a couple of options for connecting to the Internet. You can buy an Air Card that is installed in one of the PC Card slots when you want to use it to access the Internet. My company used to provide Air Cards for laptop users through AT&T. The advantage is that you have an uninterrupted connection to the Internet no matter your location.

You can also buy a WiFi card that fits into a PC Card slot. This card will be your Wireless NIC (adapter) providing you with the means to set up connections to wireless networks. Linksys is a pretty good brand and fairly easy to install and support. After installation and configuration, you can pop the card in your PC Card slot anytime you want to connect to a Wireless network then remove it when it's no longer needed.

I hope this helps you connect wirelessly using your laptop. Please rate this solution and thanks for using Fixya.

It's somewhat easy, somewhat complicated. Buying the wireless card is easy - you can buy one at any major electronics or computer store. What you need is a PCMCIA Wireless (802.11G) adapter. Most stores will have several models, any of them will be sufficient for surfing the internet. If you're not sure what features you want, just buy the cheapest one.

Here's the complicated part. You need to have an account with an internet service provider (such as Comcast, or Roadrunner, your local phone or cable company). You will also need a wireless router or wireless access point, which you will then connect to your cablemodem or DSL modem (however the internet service provider serves you the internet access). They will help you with the setup and installation.

If you only want to use it away from home, you can usually get a good signal in most major cities around businesses like coffee shops and things like Kinko's - although some businesses will require you to pay to use this service.

Wireless internet access assumes there is a wireless access point (WAP) nearby (usually less than 100 feet away for a good signal). Sometimes you can access your neighbors' wireless access points, but they are usually (and should be) secured against unknown access, or require a key. If you ask nicely they might let you use them.

Good luck, hope this helps!

Its already in the machine, based on your description.

Windows XP has a built in wifi configuration tool, previous versions of windows dont have this feature. But if you were to buy a wireless card it comes with software for wireless to work on all versions of windows from 98 - XP most if not all new laptops have wifi built in & that will be able to share your broadband connection through the netgear router. You can configure the laptop & pc to share files & printer between each other, easy way of doing that is by using the wireless network setup wizard which can be found in Start -> All Prograns -> Accessories -> Communications -> Wireless Network Setup Wizard.