Configuring a wireless network involves setting up a wireless router or access point and installing wireless adapters on the networked computers. The wireless router must be placed in a central location because the computers closer to the router or access point obtain faster network speeds. The wireless router needs to be connected to a power source and a source of Internet connectivity so that all computers on the network are provided Internet access.

A wireless router is not mandatory for setting up a wireless network. Almost any computer with a wireless adapter and a wired connection to the Internet can be used as an access point. Next, the wireless network must be provided a name. This is usually referred to as SSID. All the computers on a WLAN must share the same SSID.

Each computer connected to the wireless network should have a wireless LAN card (also know as Wi-Fi adapter) installed. Wi-Fi adapters can be configured after installation of TCP/IP based networking on the individual computers. On computers using Microsoft Windows operating system, adapters usually have their own graphic user interface accessible from the taskbar after the wireless networking hardware is installed. This allows a user to enter the SSID and enable the WEP. For a WLAN to function accurately, all the adapters must use same parameter settings.

One can also opt for automatic wireless configuration that supports the IEEE-802.11 standard for wireless networks. This minimizes the configuration that is required to access the wireless network. Once you enable automatic wireless network configuration on your computer, you can move across various networks without reconfiguring your network connection settings. As you move from one place to another, automatic wireless networking searches for a network that is available and notifies you about the same. You can select the network that you want to connect to and the network configuration wizard updates your wireless network adapter to match the setting of the access point of the new network.