Hank-
Using Ad-Hoc this way is possible, but networking can certainly be tricky at first. Have you seen this tutorial-
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e.../02april08.asp
BTW - it would be most helpful if you can specify some more of your setup. What OS are you running on the laptop. Does the laptop have a wired card as well as the wireless card (where is the Internet connection coming from). Where is the IP address coming from for each machine? Also, how are you "seeing" the packets received on the laptop when you ping from the Axim.