My guess is that you use an ethernet cable from a router to connect to the internet. In Internet Explorer go to Tools > Internet Options... then on the connections tab select "Never dial a connection" then on the LAN settings make sure nothing is ticked. It should then use the gateway supplied by the router. Assuming all the other settings are default (ie the ethernet card in the laptop has "obtain IP and DNS settings automatically" in the TCP/IP properties) it should work. Oh, I would reboot it after making the IE changes.