I just lost the use of the ethernet port on the pack of my Compaq Presario17xl360 notebook (it stopped working). It was going to cost $350 to fix and that is just too much for me. I've tried different cables and locations, but no matter what, it doesn't work. Does anyone know how to get these computers apart? I'm thinking there might be a broken solder joint or something (when I wiggle a cable connected to the RJ-45 connector on the OEM miniPCI card, the card's icon disappears and reappears on the computer), but I can't figure out how to get the thing apart.

So if I can't get it fixed, all I'm left with is a single PC card slot. Does anyone know of a 802.11b/ fast ethernet combo PC card, maybe even one with a 56k modem too?

You could get a fast ethernet/modem card and an external Ethernet-Wireless converter. Not as convenient, but I haven't heard of a combined Ethernet/Wireless card yet.

The other option is there are some USB based 802.11b devices now, I know netgear do one.