What do I need to make my laptop connect to wireless router

[#1]

Or try ebay - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IEEE-802-11G-MINI-PCI-WIRELESS-LAN-WIFI-LAPTOP-CARD_W0QQitemZ190272682278QQcmd... is half the price... (if any model is OK).

[#2]

At that price it's definitely worth trying.
(I had a quick look on eBay myself but didn't spot anything)

[#3]

I got one of these for my wife's Dell Latitude in April '08.  The antenna leads were already fitted to the Latitude, so it was just a matter of popping it in, connecting the antenna cables (a bit fiddly!) and away it went using XP's WZC to set it up with WPA2 security. I found the manuals, etc., on the Dell website. Has been working flawlessly since then.

[#4]

Thanks for all responses - I think I will have the laptop checked before I buy but the ebay prices are tempting. It was that particular one I was looking at jnwright.

[#5]

Back again!
I have a card - a netgear which my brother has given me. He set it up yesterday at his house and all worked ok but now I am home and nothing doing. Do I need to do something to the PC directly connected to the router? Using the Netgear software and it finds the network but no connection. Is is to do with IP address? pls help

[#6]

What security are you using on the router and the card. They will need to use the same and have the same passkey entered.
No you don't need to do anything to the PC and the router should be issuing IP addresses so that should not be the problem....
assuming that everything is set up for DHCP.

[#7]

Quote from: Strat

No you don't need to do anything to the PC and the router should be issuing IP addresses so that should not be the problem.... assuming that everything is set up for DHCP.

Even if the netgear was set to a different IP it would still connect to the network, it just wouldn't be able to access anything as it would be on a different subnet.  It sounds like you need to configure the security as Strat has said, make sure and use WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK as WEP is as good as useless for security.

[#8]

You could check the settings on the router using the other PC. As Strat says, the wireless security type and passkey need to be exactly the same. Also check the SSID (the name given to your wireless network in the router settings). Does the laptop see more than one network? It may sound silly, but you need to be trying to connect to the right one. It is also worth trying setting the router to different security levels i.e. try it with no security (but only for the shortest possible time). If that works, set both router and laptop to WEP security (also only for a short time). If that works set both to WPA and so on. If it doesn't work, let us know which stage you get to.

[#9]

Ok thanks for help and please bare with me on this as not v techie minded 
First the netgear
Here are the settings
Network type - Access Point (Infrastructure)
Security - It can be WPA-2-PSK(AES) or WPA-2-PSK(TKIP)
The password is the same I have for Plusnet
Then when I apply the settings the signal lights come on but then eventually I see the IP address but the message come up that the connection has failed or is limited.
If is it security at present I cannot find where to change the settings on the Thomson router

[#10]

I assume you are using Windows?
You should be able to see all networks in your locality (although not connect to them).
Can you see yours?
What signal strength do you see (should be shown as a number of green bars)?
If necessary, try moving your laptop closer to the router.

[#11]

laptop and Pc are using Windows XP.
How do I see the network? Do you mean from the PC in the control panel?
The laptop is v v close to the router! and we are looking at the Netgear window indicates strength is good but once the IP address is shown the message from the Task bar is that there is limited or no connectivity.

[#12]

Bev are you trying to confuse us or yourself?  the post before last mentioned Netgear and Thomson routers, what have you got?

[#13]

Oh dear I dont want to confuse anyone 
Most of all myself!! I have a new thomson router which works fine, I used to plug the laptop into the router to connect to internet but I want to use it elsewhere in the house so I have been given a Netgear card for it. My brother put it in and it worked fine with his network so card is OK. He downloaded the software. So now I have come home and want it to work here but it does not!
I think there maybe something with the suggestion it is due to security settings but I dont know how to do this with the router.
Bev
Thanks to all so far

[#14]

Once the netgear card is in the laptop, you can forget the word Netgear (assuming it is working and has no problems etc etc). 
The limited / no connectivity is because you need to configure your security.
Your laptop sees the router - but needs information (passwords) to connect to it.
If you refer to the Thomson "instructions", you should see a password which is the same for WEP or WPA security.
It is a combination of digits 0-9 and letters A-F.
It is unique to your router.

[#15]

Quote

If you refer to the Thomson "instructions", you should see a password which is the same for WEP or WPA security.

It should be on a sticker on the underside of the router!
Aslo, if you're using the Thomson with its default SSID then the network you are trying to connect to should also be on the sticker underneath (it'll either be Thomsonxxxxx or PlusnetWireless depending on which version of firmware you've got).
To connect (assuming you're running Xp) you need to right click on the small TV screen in the system tray and select "Show available networks".  You then need to select your nework and click "Connect".  You'll then be prompted to enter the password (the one printed on the bottom of the router).  You should now connect all being well!