Router Headaches And Wireless Fun

My son received a wireless capable notebook when he graduated high school in 2005. When we made the move to my new location, we signed up for DSL internet. Unfortunately I neglected to specify a wireless modem/router when I ordered, and they sent me a regular DSL modem. So for Christmas I bought my son a Linksys wireless router. My wife received a second-hand computer from my step-father, who had bought himself a new notebook. So I bought her a wireless PCI card so all three of us could access the internet at the same time.

Guess what I spent most of Christmas morning trying to do? I got the router hooked up to my computer and DSL modem, but I couldn't get it to access the internet. After about 4 or 5 hours of trying various configurations and monkeying with various settings, I took my router out of the loop, got back on the internet and downloaded a utility from the Linksys website, which took care of everything in about 5 minutes. Why didn't they package that utility in the box along with the setup software, or instead of the setup software?

Once I got that working, I tested it with my son's notebook to see if he could have wireless access. He does! So then I start on the PCI card for my wife's desktop. I followed the instructions exactly, installing the software first, then the hardware. I got a connection to my router, but it would not connect to the internet. I monkeyed with that for about an hour or two before calling it quits. Today I downloaded the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website and reinstalled everything, but it still didn't work. Finally, in frustration, instead of using the manufacturer's software to control the wireless PCI card, I just let Windows handle it, and within 5 minutes I'm on the internet.

My next challenge, if I decide to do it, is to see if I can get all three computers to share files and so forth. I know nothing about networking, so I'm not sure if I should try this or not.