Trying to connect wirelessly for the first time.. need help

okay. I'm trying to connect my computer wirelessly through another
regular/wired router. I got this linksys travel router, which you are
supposed to be able to plug in at like a hotel, (to both a outlet and the
broadband wall connection) and be able to use your computer wirelessly.
Except i'm trying to do this at my home. The computer is only a few feet from
this travel router (model WTR54GS if anyone is wondering) So i hooked it up
as per instruction and i went through the installation cd, but after that i'm
stuck. I looked in my windows help for how to connect to an available
wireless network and this is what it says:

1. Open Network Connections.
2. Click the wireless network connection icon, and then, under Network
Tasks, click View available wireless networks.
3. Choose the wireless network from the list that appears, and then click
Connect.

This all makes sense to me. However, my problem is that I don't HAVE a
"wireless network connection icon" in Network Connections. All i have is a
firewire and a regular LAN connection. This laptop is about three years old
and because i never used it wirelessly before, i couldn't recall if it came
with a wireless card, but I contacted gateway, which is where my computer is
from, and two different support techs at two different times have told me
that my laptop does in fact have a wireless card. So, what am i doing wrong?

You need to know how to turn your wireless card on. It may be a switch on
the side of your computer, or perhaps a Function Key combination, such as Fn
+ F5. Sorry with out knowing more about your computer, that's my best guess.
Also if you have not installed drivers for your card or they are not
installed correctly, this could result in this problem.

--
David Hettel

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to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions addressed directly to me in
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"Rain Rabbit" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4478A3F7-5320-4D0E-8DBC-(E-Mail Removed)...
> okay. I'm trying to connect my computer wirelessly through another
> regular/wired router. I got this linksys travel router, which you are
> supposed to be able to plug in at like a hotel, (to both a outlet and the
> broadband wall connection) and be able to use your computer wirelessly.
> Except i'm trying to do this at my home. The computer is only a few feet
> from
> this travel router (model WTR54GS if anyone is wondering) So i hooked it
> up
> as per instruction and i went through the installation cd, but after that
> i'm
> stuck. I looked in my windows help for how to connect to an available
> wireless network and this is what it says:
>
> 1. Open Network Connections.
> 2. Click the wireless network connection icon, and then, under Network
> Tasks, click View available wireless networks.
> 3. Choose the wireless network from the list that appears, and then click
> Connect.
>
> This all makes sense to me. However, my problem is that I don't HAVE a
> "wireless network connection icon" in Network Connections. All i have is
> a
> firewire and a regular LAN connection. This laptop is about three years
> old
> and because i never used it wirelessly before, i couldn't recall if it
> came
> with a wireless card, but I contacted gateway, which is where my computer
> is
> from, and two different support techs at two different times have told me
> that my laptop does in fact have a wireless card. So, what am i doing
> wrong?