Can someone help me out with my netgear router!?

Ok so i just bought a Netgear router to replace my router and then when i connected all the wires from the modem to the router and the ethernet cable to my laptop. I put in the disk and it always says that the connection from the modem to the router isn't working but all the cables are fine so then i just really need help and if this question isn't clear enough then let me know I know tech support can be hard sometimes especially on yahoo answers