wireless network

it You can use a wireless router. It will have some wired rj45 connections for connecting to nic with straight thru cat5 cable and a wan port. Connect the wired cable port 1 to an output from your existing router. Don't use the wan port, that is for connecting directly to your broadband modem if you decide you don't need the old router. After it is setup you should be able to connect to the wireless router with your labtop. Just follow the instructions in the manual to get into the router and set it up, ie user name and pbuttword, etc. You will need to disable DHCP to make it act like a switch rather than a router. If you have to disconect one of your desktops to get a port on your existing router your can use the wired ports on the wireless router.

I have been using a setup like that for sometime now to connect to 5 desktops and 2 wireless laptops, and have not had any problems after figuring out how to do it (which was a problem). I am with Duane Arnold on the use of the 4th port. I sort or remember that port one can not be used because it is connected to the WAN port, and you can't use both of them at the same time. You should find that in the manual, but you should not need it anyway because you will have some wired ports on the new wireless router.