stevelev,

Is SSID broadcast disabled on the router?  If it is, enable SSID broadcast temporarily and see if you can connect to the network.

Post back with the results.

stevlev,

That's exactly where I was heading. 

Have you tried a different channel to eliminate interference?  Channel 1 or 11 would be a good choice.

Paladin,

Router and AP are two different pieces of hardware. Firmware on AP does not give me the ability to disable SSID broadcasting, so the AP is broadcasting. Upgrading the firmware would give me the ability to disable, but I know that would not work with WinXP Zero Config.

stevlev

stevlev,

Well, just for grins you may want to install the Linksys WUSB11 configuration utility and disable WinXP's WZC.  The utility is located on the \utility directory of the WUSB11 CD and has its own setup.exe.  Install it, then disable WZC and reboot the PC.  Then see what happens when the Linksys utility has control.

Paladin,

Yes, I switched to Channel 11. I don't think it improved reception, and it did not eliminate the problem. After reloading the drivers, the connection is Good, with few dropped packets.

stevlev

jmwills,

That MSKB article explains a lot.  Thanks.

While I agree with the article saying disabling SSID broadcast is not going to make your wireless network secure, that step is just one in a list of security precautions to take.  I do not understand Microsoft's thinking that if you configure the wireless client for a preferred network that that network must be broadcasting the SSID.  It's short sighted on Microsoft's part, to say the least.  Fortunately, there is a workaround.