There will be either a 3rd party software alreay installed on the laptop, or he needs to use Windows to manage his wireless connection. Either way, he needs to get onto his router, and set up a SSID, and also a WEP key for security. He should then be able to scan for the SSID, and connect to it using the software installed on his laptop.
It's difficult without knowing exactly what laptop/router he has, and settings are all different in different pieces of kit