Well…. You could cheat?
WiFi support on the Raspberry Pi is a bit of a minefield to say the least. If you’re using Raspbian as your operating system then you’re probably ok, you just need to make sure you use a compatible USB WiFi adapter. But, if you’re using a bespoke OS like RaspBMC or Openelec, both of which are media playback suites then you might lack the correct drivers and configuration tools for WiFi.
The way I got around this problem (and possibly the easiest way) is to use a pocket nano-router to connect to your WiFi network using the Raspberry Pi’s Ethernet port.
The device above is a TP-Link TL-WR702n Nano Router which can be used in a whole manner of different ways. One of these ways is to receive a WiFi signal from your router and then re-transmit the network signal via the Ethernet port. Configured correctly, it can be used to provide network connectivity to your Raspberry Pi over Ethernet, even though it’s connected to your home router via WiFi.
It takes a little bit of configuration, but full details can be found on the TP-Link website. Best part is, the TL-WR702n is quite cheap, in fact you can pick it up for around £15 online.