Set Your Peripherals Free

Any device with an ethernet port can be untethered via a simple Wi-Fi-to ethernet bridge, which lets you move it around the house or place shared peripherals in a central location. The bridges cost about $50 to $100 and are available from Belkin, D-Link, Netgear, and other vendors. They’re used primarily as wireless game adapters for GameCubes, Play Stations, and Xboxes, but they work with other ethernet-equipped products, such as printers and external hard drives.

If your Wi-Fi network is configured to use DHCP, there’s a good chance that your wireless bridge will work right out of the box. Otherwise, you’ll have to connect the bridge to your PC, and then as sign it an IP address manually by opening the machine’s network settings. Some older game consoles need a separate network adapter with an ethernet port. Also, the Xbox 360 has a USB port, for which Microsoft sells a Wi-Fi adapter.