adding laptop by wireless to an existing ethernet/hpna network

[ajay]

I have a home network, set up on 2 levels. In the upper level bedroom ,is my main computer (with NIC & HPNA cards) with cable modem connection thru a 2 Wire gateway/router.On the lower level office , is my 2nd computer (with NIC & HPNA cards) that is on the network thru HPNA. There is no ethernet cable connecting the 2 computer , i do not have a wired network.

Now I purchased a laptop (has NIC card but no wireless card) and I want to access internet thru the laptop from both levels.

What kind of hardware (AP & PCI card for the laptop, at a minimum I suppose) do i need ?

Can I keep my existing network and just add on wireless network just for the laptop to get internet access (with a AP and PCI card) to minimize costs?
If I can , how do I do that ? How/where to physically connect the AP ? The only vacant slots I see on the existing 2wire gateway/router are 2 USB slots on the back.
Do I need more than 1 AP or a bridge to get the range for my 2/3 level home?

thanks

[XeoNoX]

I am assuming that you are using a wireless network and that you want to add your laptop to the network.

All you need is ANY kind of wireless card as long as the standards match. What i mean by that is if you have an 802.11a network then u should use an 802.11a card and if you have an 802.11b then u should use an 802.11b card.

Just go out and buy the wireless card and to make things simple on your just go out and get a USB wireles card wich is alot easier to connect. From there on out its just a matter of configuring your laptop to connect to the router by either using DHCP or setting up a static ip for the router.

[ajay]

My existing network is not a wireless network.
My host PC connects to cable modem thru a router with cat5.
the other PC on lower level connects to the network thru HPNA.These are the only 2 PCs on my network now.

[XeoNoX]

i suppose you could go wireless on the laptop, but then you would have to change the way your network runs and you would have to go out and buy other wireless goodies, by the time your done you will be looking at more than $200 U.S. dollars.

You can always to to get USB HPNA adapter or a card for the laptop.