[newbie] Networking setup for PCMCIA on laptop

[Bombardier Systems Consulting]

Hello,   I have a Compaq Presario 1230 laptop with a PCMCIA card and am trying to set it up to have TCP/IP network access through my DSL service.  I am connecting to a hub that is connected to a Cisco 675 external router.    I have been using the NETCONF utility and have entered the LAN address of the router as 10.0.0.1 and then set up DNS addresses with my ISP.  I get lights on the dongle and the hub but no action.  I am not sure how to get the system to recognize the Ethernet access through the PCMCIA card.  In the Basic Host information setup I used the "dummy0" option as was recommended in the Help for the adaptor.  I am not sure what to put as the "Host.Domain" entry.  I have an NT server on the network and at some point want to get the Linux to see the server but the first goal is to basic network connectivity.  In the adaptor setup I also enabled  DHCP so the 675 would give me a NAT address.  I would appreciate some help knowing what I am missing or have set up incorrectly.  Do I need to know more about the PCMCIA card and configure that somewhere?  Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.   Thanks...Jim