D'oh!

Remember the wireless router I bought last July? And how I could never get it to work? And how I thought I was using the signal from the library across the street? Well....

While my friends were here this weekend, J (who is brilliant in so many ways and much more savvy when it comes to hardware than I am) offered to check it out for me. After just a couple of minutes she called me over to the computer. "This is your DSL router, right?", she asked. Yes. "Why does it say it's wireless?" she inquired. I dunno. A few more minutes of investigation revealed that I didn't in fact need the Linksys router I bought because my DSL router already transmitted a wireless signal. And the signal from the library? It was from my own computer all along. D'oh! Anyone need a like-new router?

Thanks to J, not only do I know where my wireless signal is coming from now (!) but I can also use it in my kitchen. My house is pretty spread out and the signal didn't make it everywhere. But J installed a signal extender (which because of my aging laptop was MUCH more complicated than it should have been) and I am now sitting at my sunny kitchen table, blogging on my lunch break. Thanks, J!!