Technology

Caveat: This is assuming OS X 10.3.x, but 10.2 is similar. If you're on 10.0 or 10.1, it's really worth your while to upgrade. No help here for 9.x. Also, I had the same model Actiontec device before, and it was horribly flaky - to the point that I used my old base station instead of it. It's worthwhile to verify that it's working with a device you better understand before attempting to connect to a non-existent signal. I believe there's a firmware upgrade available for that modem - check with Qwest to see. This DSL modem is the most likely cause of your problem.

[More:]

Assuming you know for a fact that the thing works (see above, don't assume that this unit will work), then connecting is trivial. If the powerbook recognizes the airport card in the computer, you'll see a small signal indicator (a series of concentric arcs in the shape of a pie wedge) on the top right, near the clock. Click on this signal indicator, and you'll get a drop-down menu. If you see the word 'ACTIONTEC,' click on it, and the signal indicator should become solid black, with perhaps the top bar or so being gray if the signal isn't perfectly strong. And don't worry about the channel - MacOS handles that transparently. And by default it will automatically connect back to that node the next time it sees it.

When I go to a coffeehouse or other public place with wireless availability, it takes me all of five seconds to connect to a new network - much easier than any of the tools I've yet seen in windows. (If any of you know of a windows tool that enables one-click access to previously-unknown public wireless nodes, please let me know!)

If the word ACTIONTEC isn't in that drop-down menu, one of the following things is happening:
1) The dang DSL modem isn't really broadcasting wireless, no matter what you've told it to do.
2) The wireless is working, but isn't broadcasting the ESSID. If this is the case, in the drop-down menu mentioned before, choose "Other..." and a dialogue will appear. Type ACTIONTEC in the 'Network Name' field, leave the password blank, and click OK.
3) The wireless is working, it isn't broadcasting it's ESSID, and WEP is turned on. In this case you'll need to change the settings on the DSL modem. From the machine connected via the one ethernet port, point a web browser to this address: http://192.168.0.1 and choose the Advanced Configuration option. Warning: this is the flaky part, as the modem I had would often claim to be broadcasting when it wasn't, would sometimes broadcast when I'd turned it off, and often failed to connect back to the DSL side after restarting. Again, get the firmware upgrade for it.

If all else fails, it's worth fifty bucks to buy a real wireless router, and put all the equipment on that.