Let's talk about Wires-X. I can tell you what Yaesu says about it: "WIRES (Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System) is an Internet communication system which expands the range of amateur radio communication."
Yea, so what does this really mean. Well let me try to explain to you the way I see it. Wires-X is a collection of nodes and rooms that live on the Internet. A node is a way of connecting your radio to the Wires-X Network which resides on the Internet. A room is a area in the Wires-X Network in which nodes can assemble and communicate. Simple, you go into a room where other nodes might be and you talk with each other. Again this happens on the Internet.
Now there are a few different ways you can get to this Network with your radio. One way is to connect your radio to your computer (which is also connected to the Internet) using some software called Wires-X. This is NOT the way we are talking about today.
Today we are going to talk about how we can connect to the Wires-X Network just by using the radio in your hand and the Repeater you are talking on. Kind of nice, you don't even have to have a computer connected to your radio to get to Wires-X Network.