OT: COMPUTER QUESTION

We all have computers, hope it's ok for me to ask question, If not then I'll delete it,
My puter modem is a westell 2200 on the back only thing I use is the phone line, usb, and
the power line, I don't have to use the Ethernet port on the modem or my computer, I just
bought myself a laptop Toshiba Satellite,A300 Series, It does have the wireless antenna
switch, when I turn it on I can't pick up the internet, so they told me to buy a wireless router
so I did The question is How do I connect the router to my desktop modem? I did get a dvd for it
but it won't work in my computer I called the company they told me to click start then run then
put E:\setup.exe it still won't run, Then they gave my all kinds of directions I don't understand
none of them, Here's my e-mail address if someone wants it,
jnbsharp@verizon.net Hope this was ok if I defended someone I'm really sorry,

Hi - I believe you'd exchange your modem for the new router, and plug it directly into the computer. But why on earth would you be shy about asking ?

Westell 2200 is a DSL modem... ok that's a start.

If I'm thinking of the right model, you have on the back:
Line (where the phone line plugs in)
USB
a power switch
the actual power connection
a reset button (very tiny)
and an ethernet port (network connection)

Having the modem connected to your computer using the USB would not be needed once you get the wireless router properly set up.

This is all possible to do but it requires some knowledge of networking to do quickly. Otherwise it's going to take a while to lead you through this going back and forth. The SIMPLEST solution might be to call your phone company and see if they have a replacement modem that includes wireless that THEY will set up for you.

The Westell 2200 MIGHT have to be put into "Bridge Mode" for this all to work. If so, then this gets complicated. If not, then you'll need at least 2 ethernet cables (network cables) to begin. NOT phone cables.... network cables. A phone cable connector will fit into a network port, but a network cable connector will not fit into a phone port.

As a simple test (and with fingers crossed), once you have 2 network cables in hand you could try this:
turn off the Westell 2200
unplug the USB from the Westell 2200
get the router and place it next to the Westell 2200 but do not turn it on yet
plug a network cable from the Westell 2200 ethernet port to the WAN port on the router
plug a network cable from your computer's network port to one of the network ports on the router

Now turn things on in this order:
Westell 2200 (wait for it to go online... might take 20 or 30 seconds... should have lights indicating it is connected to internet)
now turn on the router (same thing... give it some time to turn on and get connected if it can)
turn on your computer

Does the computer have internet connection?
If yes, we're in great shape and almost there.

If no, then shut everything off, unplug the network cables from computer, router, and modem.
Plug the USB cable back into the modem
Turn the modem on
Turn your computer on.
You're now back to where you were before we did all this stuff. We haven't changed any settings so everything should just come back to what you had before.

Feeling adventurous?

I just did this myself with a Westell modem and a wireless router, and the instructions are essentially as Yardbird posted, BUT....

It turned out that the documentation (both printed and the CD) that came with the router did not include some critical information for initializing the wireless router. Using the setup.exe command will not help if the information is missing from the setup, as it was for me. I had to talk to the tech for quite awhile before he realized what was missing; no doubt he thought that such important information would be in the documentation, but nope.

If it does not work when you try the setup Yardbird suggested, I think your next step is to call tech support for the router. If they are saying things you don't understand, just tell them you don't understand and make them go through the step again. If the tech speaks English as a foreign language and the accent is confusing, just say you didn't understand; you won't be the first, and they are typically very nice about repeating it carefully (they may be struggling to understand your accent, too, LOL!)

Make them stay on the phone with you while you try each step to make sure you are doing it right and it does what it should. They sometimes get perturbed, because they want to move on to the next customer, but tough -- helping you is their job. You paid for their help when you paid for your router. Just keep asking them to hang on while you do each step, and stay on the phone with them until you have successfully connected to the Internet with the router in place. It can be a long, drawn-out process, and you may need to type things into your computer, so if you have a hands-free headset for your phone, this is a good time to use it.

It might help us if you'd post the make and model of router too. It would be easier to walk you through the setup of the router that way. One thing for sure is you'll need to properly set the security on the router to keep your network private.

I agree with what yardbird is saying. If you can get that far it's a big step in the right direction.

OK thank you so so much I'll give this a try, I have two here one is going back to the store,

Linksys, wireless router model# WRT54G2,

Belkin N wireless router model# F5D8236-4 V2

I'd favor the Linksys model myself but I doubt that it makes much difference.

btw, is the new laptop your only computer? just asking cause you're online somehow and if you have another computer on your home network you wouldn't want to mess that up.