If you just need your laptop to be wireless you might just need a usb ireless card, there are about $35 at Best Buy, you plus it into your USB port and the laptop has a wireless card. So, if you were to go into a coffee shop of if your home already has wireless, that's all you need. Make sense?
I have charter and usually what you need to do is a power down the modem plug your ethernet from the modem to the router turn the modem on and wait for it to link to online then turn on the router and it should link up fine. just need to configure once live.