I think I'm almost there now... 

My intention is to buy:

- a LaCie 250GB external hard drive

- a Draytek wireless router/ADSL model (2600VG)

- a wireless squeezebox 3

(plus various PC cards to get it all connected)

It's taken me a few days to get up to speed with all the jargon and formats and whatnot but I think I've got it all sussed now.

If the wireless SB experiences dropouts I'll just wire it in instead.