Can you make a wifi carrier out of a USB drive?

I had to turn off my Internet service, lack of funds. I picked up my upstairs neighbors network on my Vista laptop but there are files I need on my XP desktop and it did not pick-up the signal.

Is there a way to use something free to get the service on my desktop? (I feel sleazy just asking this but until I can get a job I have to do whatever is necessary.)