this is driving me nuts--noob alert

I have three machines running xp (2 with pro and one with home), with a
netgear m814v2 router set up as an AP (192.168.0.254), hooked to a
dw6000 satellite modem (192.168.01, as it has DCHP automaticaly turned
on and I can't change it) . The two pro machines are on a lan, and I
can ping the router from both and both work well with fixed addresses
(192.168.0.3 and .4).

The problem is the xp home machine. It is wireless (blitzz usbg
adapter bwu713).

The router has LOS to the usb adapter in this fashion: I extended the
adapter via a IOGEAR usb extender that uses cat 5e cable to run it
outside for the LOS (attatched to the side of the house and assembled
inside a homemade dish/antenna booster), and a powered usb hub to boost
the power/signal between the IOGEAR and the computer (as I discovered
after diligent search that some dell machines do not provide enough
power to the usb ports for this to work properly without a power
boost). The router is also on an outside wall and protected from the
elements.

The machine can find the adapter if I disassmble the dish and plug
directly into the usb port (but can't find any networks of course-- the
machine is across the street and there are several walls between), but
gave me 'malfunctioned device' when using IOGEAR extender without the
powered hub. After attatching the hub, xp claims it is an unknown
device, and no drivers are loaded and I've tried pointing to the
installation file manually. I can't get a connection to set up an
address.

I have all firewalls turned off. Have I just wasted a month of futzing
and a fistful of money? Do I need to ditch the whole usb route and get
a pci card with a detatchble antenna?

help!