UK Telewest broadband and Netgear ME102 - help!

I'm trying in vain to set up a simple system...

I have a Telewest broadband account (same as NTL) with a Surfboard cable
modem (they supplied a USB cable, which works fine).

I have connected a NetGear ME102 to directly the modem. I only need to
wirelessly connect 1 laptop and don't need device sharing. The MAC addresses
of both the ME102 and the wireless card are defined in my selfcare account
setup.

Both LAN lights on the modem and the ME102 flash away happily. Windows XP on
the laptop can connect to the ME102 'Wireless' network ... but, I still
don't have any internet connection.

Is this setup be possible? I've tried lots of different settings using the
ME102 USB configuration manager, but it hasn't helped. Has anyone got any
advice? Is a router required, even though I don't need to share the
connection?