I work from home and have moved my office into a different part of the house. The old office that my husband still uses is where the ADSL line comes in and the router sits. It also has my desktop computer that I need to use occasionally but most of my work will be from my laptop in my new space. It makes sense to move my desktop too BUT being a desktop it doesn't have wifi but I can get a new network card or buy a usb dongle it is our main "file server" to make it easier to backup files and therefore needs to be awake when my husband needs files - will it play nicely on wifi or do I just get him to get his head around dropbox/onedrive/etc and let that handle our backups? or do I leave it where it is?
I have a mix of hard wired and wifi enabled desktops and laptops in my house. One desktop uses a USB wifi dongle with no problems. I cannot tell the difference in performance, access, etc., between the hardwired and wifi connected machines. Can see them all on the network from any machine, too. I have not done any formal performance testing, however, and other than my son's Xbox, there is not a lot of "strain" in the network. I have not needed one, but there are special Access Points available that will increase the wifi signal to a section of the house that gets poor reception from the router.
I am a windows user, my elder bro too. I can download files from my elder brother's desktop very easily to my laptop via wifi. I dont know if you are talking about something else
@jrbiz - it's all working sweetly. Minor hiccup when I moved it as the battery to hold the clock had died so when I plugged it back in the bios etc were reset. $75 later, battery replaced, computer moved, belkin usb adaptor added and it's working just like it did on ethernet.
Yes, do use a USB dongle. It's the cheapier, the easiest to install and works like a charm. One thing though, to stop you from frustrating, make sure you are in a range at least one step higher than 1 bar, it will save you a lot of headache.