What wi-fi service do you use with the netbook?
Try one more thing. You may have a bad RAM Chip. I’ve seen it stop a boot up in older computers and give a BSD. Remove all RAM Chips but one and try the machine. If it boots and loads you have a bad chip. If it doesn’t boot swap the one you took out with the one still in and try again. I had a bad RAM chip on one about drive me nuts. When it finally died I found the problem. THis might at least let it run enough to rescue your fills. If it does load just keep programs open at a minimal.
My ping list got a bit long & I missed your post. Some of the 3g & 4g wireless companies are bundling contracts with a discounted netbook, and those units will have their extra internal PCI slot populated with the company's modem - but I'm not doing anything like that. Just the standard built in 802.11g wireless card and whatever it can reach. Of course the home router is no problem, and same with darn near any hotel, lots of restaurants, or just free riding on whatever open network that can be found. If there's no network available I have a collection of ebooks, some favorite music, and usually a couple of movies stored on the drive, plus some work that can be done offline.