Now that you have configured the host computer, it is time to configure the other computers that will have access to your wireless network. This configuration is very simple. As already explained, the requirement to have Windows Vista or greater is only for the host computer; client computers can have Windows XP running and in fact our example below is for a client computer running this operating system.

For that, simply click on the wireless network icon on the task bar (one of the small icons near the computer clock) and select your network from the list that will be shown (see Figure 9). To make sure the correct kind of encryption is enabled, double check to see if “WPA2” is listed for your network. In our case, our network was called “Gabriel,” see how WPA2 is being listed for this network.

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Figure 9: Selecting the network.

After selecting your network and clicking on “Connect,” the operating system will ask you to enter the network key (that random 63-character word) two times. You only have to do this on the first time the computer connects to your network, after that the computer memorizes the key.

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Figure 10: Entering the encryption key.

That’s it!