Not sure that I can help you with the DNS problem. Maybe try setting your router as your DNS server (worked for me) in /etc/resolv.conf? Are you using DHCP or static connection? Are you using the driver that came with SuSe?

To start it upon bootup, you can either (if you have KDE), put a script in /home/yourusername/.kde/Autostart/ and it will run on bootup, or (for a better way in case you need the net without running KDE), put a symlink to a script that starts it in your /etc/rcS.d and then put the script in /etc/init.d. That's what I had to do for my wireless card.