Lews.... i have the feeling we are refering to 2 different things here....
You mention connecting to the net... which makes me think you are talking about a wireless internet connection... (to make this more clear, you have a wireless modem with a wireless broadband connection to the internet)- I have no idea of which companies offer this in your country, but in SA its companies like Sentech, I-Burst, 3G.
What we are referring to, is a normal cable/DSL modem/router working with wire.... but your LAN is wireless, so you have a wire to the internet, but no wire between your computer and the router/pots/modem.
The latter is the problem with speed.
