Laptop can't connect to the internet.

Hey guys, my craptop doesn't want to connect to the internet. The wireless connects to the router fine, but it doesn't go any further then that (The cards diagnostic says it can't ping the gateway IP). I've tried resetting the modem, resetting the laptop and even tried switching out the new ram I got to see if that was the problem. So in a fit I just connected it directly to the modem over a wire, which worked for a while. However my wired connection doesn't work now. The modem doesn't seem to notice there's a computer hooked up to it (the PC light isn't blinking). I've tried different cables, resetting everything but to no avail. After checking Google it seems nobody has ever had this problem before. I'm running Vista on a decrepit XPS M1530. Also, it seems both problems only occurred after our internet temporarily cut out about week and a half ago and today, respectively.

Nevermind I got it working. I randomly tried bridging the two connections together and now my wireless works again. The wired doesn't though, my craptop still can't detect the lan cable for some reason.

All's well that ends well.