Idiot newbie needs wireless networking/ICS help

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

I'm pretty good at standalone PCs, but a beginner when it comes to
networking. That said, my friend is a beginner at both, so he's asked me to
help him get set up.

He has a Windows XP Home desktop which is connected to a USB cable modem
(NTL). There's now a new laptop (also running XP Home) and he's bought a
Sitecom wireless network PCI card 54M for the desktop and a Sitecom wireless
network PC card 100G+ for the laptop, with the intention of accessing the
net from the laptop with ICS.

The problem is that I really don't know what I'm doing. I followed the
instructions in the Sitecom blurb, and while the laptop seemed to connect OK
to the desktop, we couldn't get the ICS to work. So what I'm after (in an
ideal world) is some kind soul who's had to do this before with Sitecom kit
and has written it up on a website somewhere. I've been recommended to a
couple of sites already (www.homenethelp.com, www.practicallynetworked.com
and www.wown.com), but I can't get to grips with what I need to do and in
what order.

I do understand that I need to make sure that the network is secure, but
that seems a long way off at the moment. At this stage I'd just like to get
the machines talking to each other, sharing their 'My Documents' folders and
getting online through the desktop.

Thanks in advance for any help that comes in this direction - this has been
a frustrating day and I'm not much further forward than when I started.

H