Andy Hall wrote:

However, given that the broadband connection under ideal conditions
will run at 8Mbps max (24Mbps max w/ADSL2/+) what's the point in
having a LAN which is faster ? Pretty silly idea. Even then, in an
office LAN I've seldom seen a serious need for high bandwidth.

Data transfers of large files?

It depends on the environment, but in an home/office LAN very seldom. I
can't imagine why someone would have a LAN at home and spend time
constantly copying files up and down. Nightly backups are just about the
only practical example that I can think of ...

Are there any WiFi systems that "just work"?

Mine did, right out of the box.

In that case, I would turn on some form of security....

Why on earth would I do that ?