Hi dls
to Cable Forum
- does the laptop have a network card installed? If it does, then it is likely the driver is already loaded. (check in device manager)
In that case, it should be as simple as uninstall the USB driver, power off everything, connect the laptop to the router with cat5 patch cable, switch on the modem & allow to settle, switch on the router & allow to settle then finally switch on the laptop - you should get an IP, assuming the router is setup with the defaults (DHCP enabled & 'obtain an IP address automatically').
Setting up a LAN is another story, I would get the basic TCP/IP connection working, first.