Windows 7 - Do need some wireless network hardware?

Moved my pc to the basement, but there's no phone line here, router one floor above. I've never run wireless off my actual computer, and probably need to add some kind of hardware? I've always had difficulty connecting wifi to recent windows os, so maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I'm typing on the laptop pc now in the basement and the wifi signal is pretty strong here, but my computer doesn't appear to catch a signal. Or something else could be the issue.

You do have a wireless network card in your PC don't you?

A PC wouldnt have a wifi card so it cant catch a wireless signal. You can either string a CAT5 cable from the router to the PC or buy an external wireless adapter for the PC.

I really doubt it has a wireless card. The laptop readily shows available signals, when I go to make a connection on my PC it has only the option of connecting the ethernet cable. I'd like to run this wirelessly, which performs better a card or external adaptor? Which is cheaper? I plan to get this fixed as soon as possible.

Also, as for ethernet cables, how long can they be in order for them to be practical? As a temp fallback, I might try that, though id rather not.

edit: one of the reasons Im suspicious is that I do have a wireless HP printer, and I do think i recall running it as wireless off the said PC. Don't know if that suggests I have wireless capacity on my pc in general.

Get a card or a dongle with an antenna. That will yield best results. Also, if you use the "N" protocol (provided your router has that capability) you have better reach than with the standard "g" protocol. None of this equipment is very expensive.

Example for a "g": Newegg.com - Rosewill RNX-G1 IEEE 802.11b/g A-Type USB 2.0 Wireless Black Dongle w/ External 2dBi SMA Antenna Up to 54Mbps Wireless Data Rates 64/128bit WEP, WPA, WPA2, 802.1x and 802.11i

Example for a "N": Newegg.com - Rosewill RNX-N2X IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB2.0 Wireless-N 2.0 Dongle (2T2R) Up to 300Mbps Data Rates WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication).Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant, Vista/ MAC

You can check whether the pc has wireless or not. There're several ways- go to device manager and scroll down to network adaptors, look for 802.11 A/B/G/N WLAN or something like that. Or in a command prompt, type ipconfig, hit Enter- that'll show up a list of networking devices, look for Ethernet wireless. If you're completely clueless, just download and run Belarc advisor.

CAT5 can be run upto 100 meters.

Internal card versus external adapter is a matter of preference. Externals are more flexible, you can move them around. But they stick out of the computer and eat up a port. Externals are also cheaper I think.

Personally, I would prefer a wired connection anyday for the PC unless the length or cost is a problem.

If wired isn't an option, I would recommend a USB wifi adapter. The reason for this is, if you are using one of the PCI models, the antenna will be back behind the tower, and subject to interference. The USB models can be run with a USB extension cable and moved away from the tower. Learned that lesson the hard way.

My PC has a wireless adapter as well as an ethernet one:

HP Pavilion - Elite HPE-495uk - 8 GB RAM - 2.93 GHz - 2 TB HDD

If you go with a Network Dongle and it cuts out then Follow this thread

Force Reset Network Adapter?

My Dell desktop has a wireless card (because I ordered it that way). But I never used it except for a test. It is sitting right next to the router.