I am without a doubt the most useless mother in the world, not oly can I not sort out DD's New computer on to the network but neither did I marry a man who can

[KatyMac]

The computer will be out the window soon

'Limited or no connectivity' my arse

Katy, put simply... the router's firewall settings can sometimes (depends on the router) be configured such that it will only talk to other systems it already knows. Each device has a MAC address (not to be confused with an Apple MAC computer) which uniquely identifies the equipment.

Written on the bottom of the router

So it searches for wireless networks in range... displays a list of them (there could be several) and then tries to connect to one?

When I view available networks I get mine plus my neighbours

But mine has limited or no connectivity

Yes, the MAC address can be written on a label on devices. But that does not tell me if the router is using that method of security in addition to WEP/WPA or not - for that you will need to log into the router.

For now, concentrate on getting the wireless card on the laptop to actually see your home network.
When you click Refresh Network List, within Wireless Network Configuration, do you get a list of networks? Can you identify your home network?

Limited or No Connectivity is I believe Windows way of saying... I can see it, but it won't let me talk to it. It can also be caused by a bug in Win XP SP2.

But for now, lets assume it isn't the SP2 bug, but something easier such as wrong password.

Is the status of the connection: Connected ?

If so, can you click Disconnect

Wait for it to disconnect, then click Connect

What happens?

Where it says choose a wireless network I can 'see' Belkin54g - but it has limited or no connectivity

What happens when you try to connect to that, does it come up with a box asking for the WEP/WPA code?

It wants my network key....I am guessing this is the very long number?

Good. The network key may be the long number, or may want a passphrase.

Log into the router using another computer which is working on the network, and see if that helps you establish what the code is.

8 digits I think

The key is NOT the same thing as the MAC address (which is on the sticker on the bottom of the router).

Do you know the model number of the router? For example, my Belkin router is: FSD7632-4

Which could be binary or a password

ASDL2 with wireless router? Do you need more?

It may be the F5D7633 as that is ADSL2+, I'm downloading that manual.

Have you logged in to the router from another computer?

I am ready to give up

The wired connection won't bloody work now either

Yep - I think so

If you plug in with a cable you should be able to log into your router and set a new key. If the IP address you gave earlier is correct you should go to 192.168.2.1

On Belkins the default username is usually admin and the password is blank (ie no password).

OK I am logged into the router

Ok, so you have the router main page displayed on a machine.
Look for where it says WLAN settings (should be on the right side of the screen). Where it says SECURITY, does it say WEP 64, WEP 128 or what?

enabled

Sorry where it says security it says enabled

Surely When I do IPCONFIG there should be something on the Default gateway

I did something with Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), & I now have a wired connection

Oh how helpful of Belkin. Your router seems to support 4 different types of encryption.

On the Left side, under where the blue bar is which says Wireless, click Security.

On the page that results, can please describe what you see... does it say for example WEP-64.
Can you see a passcode... could be something like: B5 A7 C2 D1 C4 D1 F2 E2 or something like that?