How do I set up and use my Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini-PCI Card w/ Actiontec DSL wireless Gateway?

You may get a better result if you ask specific questions. Generally, if the equipment is turned on and working, the tm1300 will sense the presence of a Wireless access point and announce that "tmobile" is available and then ask you to connect. (tmobile is the SSID broadcast at Starbucks, yours will be different). You slect the name you want to connect to, and it connects. If all is going well, the access point will issue your laptop an IP address, and if the AP has internet service, so will your laptop.

What have you tried?
Does your laptop "see" the SSID the Actiontec Gateway broadcasts?
How do you cofigure the gateway?
Can you set its SSID manually?

It might be a good idea to reset the gateway to its factory defaults so that someone else's previous configuration isn't causing you problems.

Some units have a reset button that you hold down for 5 seconds. This resets the unit to factory defaults?
There are a lot of very knowledgable people here who can help you.
Read a little more, then start asking specific questions.
good luck,
Don

First of all, the Actiontec Wireless DSL Gateway ships with the wireless features disabled.  You must first go into the DSL Gateway setup pages to turn on Wireless.  If the Wireless LED is off on the front of the DSL Gateway, the wireless signal is not being transmitted, so you will need to turn it on. 

You can do this by opening Internet Explorer to http://192.168.0.1 and clicking on Go.  Click the Setup/Configuration link, click Advanced Setup on the left hand column, click Begin Advanced Setup, click Wireless Settings on the left hand column, set Wireless to ON, I recommend changing the ESSID from the default of ACTIONTEC to something unique to you, but not something as simple as your last name or something that will readily identify that this is YOUR network.  You may also need to adjust the wireless channel to find which channel gives you the best signal (1 - 11 are valid channels).  At first, leave Security set to OFF until you get your wireless network working correctly.  Click Next, click Save and Restart on the left hand column, click the Save and Restart button.  Once the DSL Gateway has rebooted, the Wireless LED should be lit, and your computer should detect the wireless network.  If you are having trouble staying connected, have a low signal, or are unable to surf the web, you may need to go back into Advanced Setup and change the channels.  Anytime you make a change on a page, be sure to click Next before clicking the Save and Restart link at the bottom of the left hand column.  This button should actually be labeled as "Apply these changes and go to the Next page" as that is what the button actually does.  If you do not click Next, the changes may not be saved.

If you need help enabling the wireless features or getting a stable signal, Actiontec Technical Support offers free assistance with enabling the wireless feature of the DSL Gateway, changing the ESSID, and channels at 1-888-436-0657.  The Colorado Support staff are very good, and most are very patient with customers who are not as computer literate or network knowlegeable as they  are.  Their India based counterparts are difficult to understand at times, and are not as knowledgeable or simply have you try something then call back if that doesn't work.  My recommendation is to call Monday through Friday between 8am and 8pm Mountain time to try to get the Colorado support team, and if necessary, hang up and call back until you get someone you can understand.

Once the wireless network is set up and you have a good stable wireless signal, then you can enable Security features such as WEP, WPA (if your wireless card and Operating System support it), Wireless MAC Authentication (my personal favorite for keeping out unwanted wireless connections), and Disabling the Broadcast of the SSID.  If you need help in finding a WEP key, there is a good WEP key generator at http://www.warewolflabs.com/portfolio/programming/wepskg/wepskg.html  If you need assistance with any security setup, Actiontec has an Advanced Networking Support line at 1-888-825-9075 that will walk you the entire process for $29.95 per issue.  This is a fairly reasonable price, considering these gentlemen know their product better than anyone else, set these up on a daily basis, and only charge when and if the issue is resolved.  The Colorado based support staff is very knowledgeable and efficient, although I can't say the same for their India based counterparts.  My recommendation is to call between 8am and 8pm Mountain time Monday through Friday to get the Colorado based support team.  For people with knowledgeable friends, or who know how to search the internet effectively, you can find the information about how to do this online, but sometimes it is worth it to pay a small fee to have someone that knows exactly what they are doing talk you through it.

As far as I know, Actiontec is the only company that offers this type of support for help with Port Forwarding, Wireless Security, linking multiple routers and networks together, setting up Microsoft File and Printer Sharing, and some of the other Advanced features of their products.  Most companies will only tell you to read the manual and look it up on the internet.

Also, make sure that you have upgraded to the newest firmware on your DSL Gateway from the Qwest support site at http://www.qwest.com/dsl/customerservice/actiontecgt701-wg/upgrade.html  The newest firmware was just released last week, and fixes several minor issues, including some wireless stability issues.  The current firmware is 3.60.1.0.5.4 and the firmware that shipped on the DSL Gateway from Qwest is 3.60.1.0.4.1 (possibly ends in .3).

Hope this helps, sorry I saw it so late from the date of your post.