New Dell Inspiron 1545 "Limited Connectivity" on home wireless network

I bought a new Dell Inspiron 1545 in October because my Toshiba Satelite had died. I think that was the first week that Windows 7 came out. That night I set up my computer and really enjoyed the new Windows 7 features and was generally pleased with my Dell laptop except I noticed that it had a hard time with my home wireless network, but I didn't have much time to fix it because I left for college the next day.

I set up more stuff at school, but I also noticed that my laptop had some connectivity issues (Ethernet and wireless) but they quickly fixed themselves. Since then I've used wifi at Barnes and Noble, Panera, school, etc. I've figured that Windows 7 is pretty intuitive and seems to be self-fixing in many cases; however, when I got home on Christmas break, I've continued to have the same wireless issues that I had when I was home on Fall break, and I've tried everything to resolve them. I was wondering if anyone had the same problems (below) and if they were able to fix them?

Hardware:

-Dell Inspiron 1545 running Windows 7, factory installed

-Cisco Linksys router

The issue is as follows:

-this only happens on my home network

-When I boot up my computer (or wake it up from hibernation), I'm on limited connectivity. 

-If I mess with it, opening up every option in the option "Open Network and Sharing Center," my computer usually fixes itself and I can get online

-Sometimes, I think my computer doesn't recognize my home network, calling it a public network (in which case I think Windows's Firewall blocks internet access, but I'm not sure)

-I've done all of the regular steps (resetting the router, unplugging/replugging it, making sure that my radio/F2 key was on, etc.)

I'm not sure why my computer fixes the wireless issue, but I think it might be a Windows 7 feature,  but the fact that it takes sometimes ten to twenty minutes (after I mess with the options in the "Open Network and Sharing Center"), I think is ridiculous. I'm sure it's not an issue with my router because my Toshiba worked perfect with it. I'm just wondering if I'm overlooking a setting that could make my wireless run smoother. Obviously, Dell didn't intend for users to have to jump through so many hoops when connecting to wireless.

Sorry for the lengthy story, but I felt the details were necessary. I've spent the last few days scouring the Dell tech forums, finding a few situations like mine (usually XP or Vista), but nothing quite exact. I want to fix this issue, but I'm sure others have had similar problems with this model. I want this forum post to help other with this problem.

Thanks