Will this work? (Wireless network)

[Ausatco]

My gear:-

D-Link DSL-200 USB ADSL modem. (not a router/switch, just a modem.) It has a phone line connection and a USB connection to the 'puter. That's all.

Desktop is a P4 running XP Home.

Laptop is a P4 running XP home.

Both have 10/100 ethernet built in.

They are networked in my home with 10/100 ethernet using the required crossover cable. The desktop is the host 'puter for Internet Connection Sharing.

It works flawlessly.

I want to get rid of the crossover cable and use a wireless connection so I can roam the house with my laptop and stay connected. I want to spend as little as possible. I do not foresee the need to ever have a bigger set-up than this.

I propose to use a D-Link DWL-900AP+ wireless access point connected to the desktop and a D_Link DWL 650+ PCMCIA cardbus adapter for the laptop. These are 802/11b items, which, as a pair, can support max 22Mbits/sec and 256 bit WEP encryption.

The 900AP+ is not a router/switch/modem, just an access point. There would be a network cable (crossover or plain, don't know yet) connecting the desktop with the 900AP+ access point

From there I'd like to think that radio waves will simply take the place of the cross-over cable between my desktop and laptop and all will work as it does now, including Internet Connection Sharing.

I'm told that the peer-to-peer transactions will be no probs. Good. But I have conflicting info about the likely success of Internet Connection Sharing over the wireless link I've proposed. Most people who say it might not or will not work tell me to get a combined hub/switch/modem, but that doubles the cost and that's what I want to avoid. I get the feeling they're trying to sell me something that's beyond my needs, perhaps to their benefit.

Sure, it may be more robust, commercial and with potential for expansion. I want reliability, but I don't need commercial kit (this is for household domestic use) and I do not foresee the need for any more than the two computers I already have in my setup.

What does the collective wisdom of the readers of this forum suggest?

Will it work - particularly the Internet Conection Sharing (ICS)? (I realise I will have to have the desktop switched on to make the system work - the desktop will, in fact, be the router as well as the host for ICS.)

Or do I need to go the modem/wireless router/switch route?

Thanks in advance,

Edited to add: The D-Link tech folks seem to think that there might be problems within Windows with this proposal. Yes it can be made to work, but it may be difficult and they can only offer limited Windows-oriented support (but full product support! - I would have thought they'd go pretty much hand in hand to get a system working, but that's beside the point.) I get the impresson that their reservations were not specifically to do with the D-Link products I proposed to use, but with my intended generic setup.

It's that caveat that makes me seek your input.

AA