Help my Netgear Router wont connect anymore

so i switched from XP to Vista last month or two and i did the device manager
to get my internet back.
it worked but the last week or so the connection has been horrible i been
getting "firefox cannot connect" and "connection was reset" messages then
finally today i turned on my computer and the internet isnt working at all i
tried the diagnose and repair and nothing.
i then took out my router and just used my regular internet i forgot what
its called but im using that to go online but i cant get wireless for my
laptop because i took out the router.
is my router broken or is there a way to fix it?thanks