Wireless connection on a laptop

I'm posting on behalf of my father who has a laptop and is hoping to get a broadband connection set up.

My own experience is with a desktop PC and Netgear router/modem, so I am rather unsure what he needs for a wireless connection with a laptop.

He has a Dell laptop with a "Dell wireless 1370 802.11b/g mini PCI card". He can pick up a signal and access the internet from his university library, so I assume the card incorporates a router/modem. Is this correct?

For a "wire" connection at home, could he simply connect a suitable cable from his laptop to his phone socket and access broadband at home once he was set up with an ISP, without needing any other hardware (other than a microfilter)?

Finally, what hardware would he need to access the internet wirelessly? Any recommendations on a make/model would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam

In reply to:

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I assume the card incorporates a router/modem. Is this correct?

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No, he will have a wireless LAN card in his laptop. What he will need is a ADSL modem/router at home. If he gets a wireless one he will be able to connect wirelessly. Otherwise he will connect from the laptop to the router with an ethernet cable.

Thank you for explaining that to me - makes sense now. The router/modem I have on my desktop is a Netgear DG834 (version 2 - small and white). I've been very happy with it, and am wondering if the wireless version of this router/modem is any good. (The review on this site from 2004 seems to give it the thumbs up.)

Thanks,
Sam