How do I connect my laptop to the Internet?

How do I connect my laptop to the internet? I have only a cable modem. I tried everything an I still can't use the internet while on my laptop at home. My laptop has windows 7 and my PC has windows vista please help! I tried to plug my Ethernet cable into the laptop and the internet connection still wouldn't pick up. What am I doing wrong?

 

1) UNLESS you have a router; you CAN only use either your desktop or laptop for the internet. can't do both without a router

2) is your cable modem internet PPoe or always ON?

 

1. Unplug the modem's power
2. Wait a few seconds
3. Plug in modem's power
4. Plug ethernet cable into modem & laptop

If there's still no internet access:
1. Hit Win+R to open a Run window
2. Type "cmd" and press the enter key
3. Type "ipconfig /release"
4. Wait for more info to scroll down
5. Type "ipconfig /renew"
6. Wait for more info to scroll down
7. Close the command window

P.S. What did you type your post on? Your modem might have both an ethernet port and usb port, but only one can be used at once.

 

Cable modems are often bound to work with one registered MAC address.
If the desktop was the first computer connected it's probably the only MAC address that would work.
MAC addresses can be cloned but if you want to use both computers you need a router.

 

Downloads is correct on the MAC address being registered, this is common with a lot of ISP's. The router would be the best route to take. If you want to you can clone the MAC address of the desktop into the NB. Look under the advanced properties of the port, there should be a place for MAC Address cloning.