help! complete wireless virgin (be gentle)

hiya,
have looked around your posts trying to get an answer to my problem, and although you seem to give sterling advice and solve problems, I fear mine is so simple it's never been asked.
I got a new laptop with XP (which I've never used) and centrino. I used broadband before and, being naive, thought all i had to do was buy a router (netgear rangemax) and plug the modem into it and away i go!
hmmm. not quite. managed to plug the computer into the router and access the homepage to do all the 'settings' and according to that, everything's ok. but how on earth do I unplug the laptop and make it and the router 'talk' to each other wirelessly?? (don't laugh)
sorry for such a monster post, hope you can help, and get a little snicker at my total clueless-ness!

rea_milton, Welcome to Virtual Dr! :)

Does your laptop have a wireless card?

ummmm. i dunno?
how do I find out? sorry. It's a toshiba qosmio f20 with intel centrino, and it has a wireless button on the front.
is the card built in or is it something i have to buy?

Open the Network Connection folder. To do so, follow these steps. Click Start, Run, type ncpa.cpl, and press ENTER.

You should see a Wireless Network Connection icon listed. If so, this would be your network card. You can also open the Device Manager, expand the Network adapters section and check whether or not you have one. You might already have a wireless card.

hi, I only have an entry under 'lan or high speed internet' which says local area connection and connected underneath. before I plugged in broadband, network connections folder was blank. messing about with something a minute ago, I also managed to add something called 'internet gateway' but i don't know what that is!
the network adapters section has one entry saying 'intel(R)PRO/100 VE Network Connection. any help?

Look in Device Manager again and check if there is anything listed under Other devices.

there doesn't seem to be an 'other devices' there's a system devices?

Well, it appears you don't have a wireless card. You need one in order to have a wireless connection.

ah. what's the point in having a wireless button etc.? is this common?

I'm not familar with the wireless button on the laptop so I cannot say. Somebody else might have an answer to your question. I don't have a laptop. You might check with the documentation on the Toshiba qosmio f20 for details.

thanks for all your help. might contact toshiba then and see if i should pick up a card.

can't guarantee won't be back in a panic though when i'm trying to get it working! lol. cheers!

You very welcome! :)

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to use these forums again. We'll be glad to help you any way possible.

If your computer is a centrino then it does have wireles as that is one of the three parts to make up a centrno class computer. make sure that the wireless switch is in the on position then scan for new hardware.

like your signature, applies very much here jstanek! ok thanks, I was hoping that was the case! now, do I unplug the ethernet cable from the back of my laptop, switch on my wireless button, then search? I don't seem to be having much luck doing that. Also, have a bugger of a time getting back normal broadband after I've plugged it back in to get onto the forum! it says nothing under network connections, then i turn it off and on a couple of times, and it suddenly starts working again. anybody offer any further help on this? thanks!