Which Netgear Device did you get?
What type of router do you have?
Is your router giving out Network addresses automatically? In most cases yes it you left everything the way it was right out of the box (besides setting a password).
What you most likely need to do is plug your wireless adapter into a laptop or a desktop with the CAT5 cable. Once this is done, your PC should find the adapter and bring you to a setup page. Click on Scan for Networks. Once it finds your home network click Connect, and it should set to default and automatically connect every time.
Now, unplug it from the laptop/pc, and connect it to your Apex with just the cable between the two. Turn them on, and give them a minute. Then on the Apex go to the menu, system, Net Setup and scroll to Restart. This will reboot the Apex. Once it's rebooted and the screen is alive again, go back to Net Setup, and then scroll to IP Address and click it, you should now have an IP address there something along the lines of 192.168.1.xxx
Now go to your router interface, and find DCHP clients. You should see the wireless adapter there.
Once we get past this, we can setup port forwarding so you can access it from the web and your smartphone.
Keep your head up, this is a great controller!