ASUS WIRELESS ROUTER (WL-500g)

Hi, I'm new to networking and I need help configuring my home network.
I have a desktop pc connected to the internet through a cable modem (Askey) and I bought a Asus WL-500g router and a WL-107G pcmcia card for my laptop. The idea is to have a small network at home to surf the net, download files, transfer them between the desktop and the laptop, etc. But....I can't get it to work. I've followed the instructions on the router manual, but it doesn't work. I'm missing something here and I don't know what it is.

Here's my topology:
Internet --> optical cable --> Cable Modem (lan)--> network cable --> (wan) router (lan 1) --> network cable --> (lan) NIC card [DESKTOP PC]

router settings are the default ones. all lights on cable modem and router blink as if nothing is wrong. the windows firewall is down (XP sp2), and I'm using ZoneAlarm Pro and AVG antivirus free.

I've tryed different combinations using other cables (crossover) and nothing worked so far. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you

 

2 excellent networking sites with pictures.
www.practicallynetworked.com
www.windowsnetworking.com

all free

 

Log to this page it has a lot of links to instructions to Windows Network Settings, and Sharing.

Link to: Windows Network - Installing & Sharing.

 

I'm pretty sure now that it's something I haven't done in the configuration web page of the router or on the firewall on my desktop. I've tryed to access the web from the laptop using a wl-107g wifi pcmcia card and although it detected the network I could not access the internet.
I am a complete newbie at this, but I'm a fast learner, can anyone explain it to me or show a webpage where I can read about it?? The instructions manual of the router assumes that I have the knowledge and it's not written for newcomers.
It's not like I haven't searched on the internet about this, but what I found is that plp have questions regarding more advanced features of this router, where I am starting from scratch. And the ASUS website is REALLY SLOW.
...
My experience is in programming and networking is something I always avoided like the plague, but now I must learn enough to get my home network up and running, so any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

ok first off im sort of new so if what i say doesnt make sence bear with me.

on the laptop you need to set the first 3 numbers in your ip to the same as your tower, and the last one has to be different. along with this and a few other steps will allow yout o share folders.

from what you sayd in ur last post it sounds like you dont have the correct dns addrss or the correct gateway.

your gateway should be 192.168.1.1 but im not completly sure with ur router.

to get your dns address, you can go into ur internet browser and type in the gateway address, your pass to the gateway is more then likely admin.

when you get there look for a tab that says status, or something like it.

if you find that tab look in there and take the two addresses listed next to dns.

if you dont know how to change all of this information, just follow the following.

1.go to network connections
2.right click ur wirless connection, click properties.
3.find internet protocol tcp/ip
4.highlight the above and click on the properties button to the right of it
5.when the next window pops open click the bubble that allows you to fill in the blanks.
6.fill in the ip slot with the first three numbers you find in your towers ip and the fourth number can be any you choose.
7.hit tab two times, you should be in the gateway area, fill in the gateway with 192.168.1.1
8.now click on the dns slot, fill in the first blank area with the first number you found above. and fill in the second slot with the second number.
9.hit apply or ok, and then close on the window bhind that one.
10. let the wireless card detect the network and you should be all set.

 

Thank you for your help, I did it just like you said but I guess other things were misconfigured, so in my desperation I called a friend of mine that knows a lot more about networks than me and he spent around 3hours configuring the whole thing. It works now and I'm happy ....well...as always something doesn't work as well as I espected. The desktop and the router are on my study room and I set the laptop on my sitting room, everything is running and I can detect the network from the laptop, I'm using WPA-PSK/TSK for protection and the router is configured only to allow the MAC of the laptop's wifi card. But the network is really slow...the distance between the two is around 10m. What can I do to improve the signal?