Networks Inspiron 5150 / Linksys WRT54G - Friends at Last

I created this thread in hopes of assisting others with the same problems I had, as google results show is quite frequent.


Scenario:
Home network, 2pcs, one laptop (Dell Inspirion 5150, Dell Wireless WLAN 1450 Dual Band Mini-PCI Card). No wireless, all hardwired to a router, uplink to cable modem.

Bought a Linksys WRT54G Wireless router (with 4 ethernet, 1 uplink in the back for hardwire) with hopes of setting up laptop for wireless internet.

Old router removed, new router installed, everything initially hardwired.

Router configged, change password, ssid, updated firmware. Disconnect laptop from router, thinking it will pick up the wireless network, but it does not. I tried dells WLAN card utility which didnt show any networks, and windows showed the same.

So, how to fix it.

First, I downloaded Network Stumbler because I wasnt even sure if the router was sending out a signal.

Network Stumbler turned off the infamous "NetZero" service, verified signal, signal strength, and basically told me that windows was horribly misinformed.

Upon finding this information, I opened the "Dell WLAN Card Utility", told it to take over control of my wireless preferences, which suddenly recognised the wireless network, and stuck me online.

All is well? No. The internet is so slow that it cannot recognise the data fast enough to call it a webpage, and I recieve "This page cannot be displayed."

After further research, I discover dell has a download for updated wlan card drivers available on their website.

I installed the updated drivers, which sped the internet up exponentially, and all is well again in the world of the wireless network.

Summary

Hardware
Linksys WRT54G Wireless router
Dell Inspirion 5150, Dell Wireless WLAN 1450 Dual Band Mini-PCI Card

Problem
No signal recieved by laptop.

Resolution
Used NetStumbler to detect network
Used Dells WLAN utility to configure network
Updated Dell Wireless Card drivers to fix speed problem.


I hope this relieves somebodies headache.

*note: These conclusions were come to after several hours of network tinkering and several moments of bashing my head into the wall