In my new router getting less speed in wireless connection than when connected with a cable.

Many things/variables determine Internet Speed, some you can control, some not so much. Contact your ISP and have them verify the signal, have a ISP tech come out and analyze the signal. The issue may be outside equipment or the Internet site itself. No one thing will increase speed. Upgrade to a New N or AC Wireless Access point, but remember you must update ALL computers to N or AC to benefit fro the Wireless device upgrade. Check ALL cables and connections, reseat connections. Your Device is a 802.11 G, what are you connecting? Are the Computers G as well? You can connect via a Ethernet cable, that's the fastest/easiest/cheapest way to increase speed.

Extend the range of WiFi signals with Hardware If your router is placed on the ground floor of your home, the Wi-Fi signals will be very weak or may not even reach the basement computer or the printer upstairs. The situation will be no different if you work in a fairly large premises or if there are too many walls in the area.
In that case, here are some hardware device that you can consider to extend the reach of your Wi-Fi network:
Option #1. You can attach a WiFi Repeater (also known as Wireless Range Expander) to your router and quickly expand the coverage of your wireless network without using any cables.
The Repeater should be placed within the range of your existing router and it will reflect the signals to other areas where the wireless reception was earlier poor (or totally absent). The Repeater can connect wirelessly to both routers and access points (see #3 below).
Option #2. (This is my current setup) You can get another wireless router and connect it to your existing router using an Ethernet cable. The advantage is that this setup comes pretty cheap and the Internet speed stays almost the same even for computers that are accessing the web via the new router.
You can get a 100 feet long Ethernet Cable (also known as Cat5 or LAN or RJ45 cable) for less than $10 and wireless routers start at $20. Here's a detailed guide on how you can connect two routers together.
Option #3. You also have the option to use an Access Point instead of a router to extend the WiFi range but that's often not required because Wireless Access Points can be more expensive than equivalent routers.
The other advantage with a router is that is has extra LAN ports so, in future, you can connect more wired computers for sharing files or you Internet connection.
Option #4. If you have an old desktop or laptop computer, you should consider adding an external (USB based) wireless adapter or upgrade the internal network card to improve the wireless reception (and thus Internet speed).

The speed of the wireless connection can be affected by -
1. The signal strength
2. Clashes with other wireless routers in your area broadcasting on the same channel
3. Electrical interference with the wireless signal
4. WEP & WPA Encryption of the wireless signal to prevent unauthorized access does slow the data transfer a bit.
That is why you are getting better performance using the LAN cable.

What you need is a wireless router. Your high speed internet connection at home might have a wireless router built into it, but some don't. What kind of internet connection do you have? what's the model of the modem you have. If you're not sure, just list the model numbers of all of the devices you have running.

Do you need to see the desktop or just share folders from each other? If the latter then you need to do the following:

Use Windows Explorer and select a folder you want to share. Right click and select sharing and security.

On the sharing tab click on Share this folder. Enter a share name ( I like to enter the PC name _folder name; Rick1_Downloads)

Click on Permissions. If your ok with everyone using the PC's and Laptops having access then highlight Everyone and click on Full Control.

Do this on each PC and Laptop.

That should be it or darned near close.

set up wireless security on the router and laptops, they most likely are not allowed, by the router, access

Please understand as I get very basic to start but things very obvious to you I cannot see.

Generally when including a router in a home network starting from the cable (tv) or the phone socket (dsl) in the wall with a phone wire plugged in. The next box is generally provided by your internet service provider and is a modem/something that connects to the phone line or cable. Then sometimes when only one computer exists computers are directly connected to the modem with an ethernet cable (looks like a fat phone wire with oversize connectors) or a USB cable (small flat retangular ends).

When you want to add a router for multiple computers. The computer gets disconnected. If a USB cable was used it is often replaced with an ethernet cable and that cable connects to the WAN port (probably separate from a block of 4 lan ports) of the router you bought (tell me if you have two routers -- that is a different problem). If your service comes from a cable (tv) company your router may already be properly configured. If however you have DSL service from the phone company the chances your router is correctly configured are less. To finish with the cabling story -- your computer then hooks to one of probably 4 LAN ports all in a block. Now if you are lucky power on all devices and boot up your computer and see if you have internet access. If you do great if not please provide me the name of your internet service provider or a link to their help/support website and I will see what I can do to assist in completing the router setup. Until your wired computer gets access to the internet your girls wireless connections will not work either. Once we get the wired connection working we will address the wireless connections.
If necessary unplug the router and plug the computer back into the original cable until we get the router working.

This is what I would do I would connect the wireless to the internet direct and allow all PC with wireless capabilities to access the net through that wireless irrespective to where I place the wireless router.  Alternative I would link the cable on on the second floor the one you use for the PC to access the net to access the the wireless it should automatic allocate IP addresses as each machine accesses the network.  The speed of that wirless is decreased as each wireless PC comes on line.

What you will need: Wireless router and a wireless adapter connected to your PC. This is assuming you have a broadband internet connection. Install the wireless router by taking the ethernet cable out of the back of your computer and placing it in the WAN or internet port in the back of your router. Install the wireless adapter inside your PC. Unplug your modem for a minute or so. Then plug in your modem and your router, then turn on your PC. If you are running XP, it should see a list of wireless access points you can access. Select the one for your router (should be the strongest) and hit connect. This will connect you to the wireless router and the internet. Note this solution assumes the following: You have a high speed internet connection, your ISP's modem is connected to your computer via an ethernet cable, and you are running windows XP.

As far as i know the coonection speed on internet should be the same, the speed at which you connect to the router wirelessly would be half the speed ,hence 54 mbps as apposed to 100 mbps via cable, when downloading. I assume you have done a speed test at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html to give you your modem connection speed, although your wireless connection to your pc; will stream the connection at half that of cable.