Internet for Laptop?

Question

My uncle just gave his old laptop (Dell Inspiron 630m). I'm a newbie to laptops. I'm not sure about every thing, so bear with me, ok? I'm not sure how to connect it to the Internet. Could you give me some help? (I think there is this wi-fi or something like that in the laptop)
At home, I have this wireless router (if that helps).
In the system tray of the laptop, there's this icon, and then it always says there is a network nearby or something like that. Also, I know my SSID, but on the Wireless Network Connection window, it doesn't show mine. Is it supposed to show there?
(how do I find the network key from my desktop computer?)
Sorry if this is confusing. THANKS!

Answer 1

Your uncle is very generous!

If your big computer has a router, you can open up the program on your big computer, to add the laptop to its network. Look for it in your Control Panel under "network connections" and "set up a home or small office network" or something like that, depending on your big computer.

The laptop could also be detecting your neighbors' network, and of course you would not have access to that, if they are bright enough to have a firewall.

You could also go down to your local Starbucks or any other cafe that offers wifi and use theirs.

Of course you can always just get a phone wire and plug it into the modem on the back of the laptop, and into the internet jack on the wall.