Mixed platform network setup

I want to integrate a SuSE Linux workstation into a LAN with Win98SE boxes. All boxes are cabled to a hub, which feeds a ‘residential gateway’–a hardware combination of firewall, gateway and DHCP service.
DHCP cannot see the Linux box,and the Linux box cannot ping the gateway. Is the problem in the setup of the Linux box or in the way DHCP on the gateway works? What is necessary to make the two work together?