Okay, so I have a home wifi network like lots of folks, as well as a laptop I routinely use at home on the network as well as-- until very recently-- using it at lots of public wifi hotspots, hotel wifi, etc.
Recently, however, I can't connect to many of the hotspots I once used regularly. My laptop can't even see the networks; it simply reports that nothing is there. This isn't just my laptop lying to me. I know because I've tested it by bringing another laptop and confirming that the access points are alive and kicking in these locations. The funny thing is, my laptop continues to consistently connect in my home and in at least one public hotspot. It just doesn't work anywhere else!
I've done a lot of digging on this. At first I thought the trouble might be traced to a recent installation of OpenSSL. I tried uninstalling it, which didn't help. I also tried reinstalling Windows XP Pro from scratch. No dice.
I'm on a IBM Thinkpad T30 which comes with software called "Access Connections" to manage wifi configurations. I've tried using Access Connections rather than letting XP manage my connections without success. I've tried the reverse without success. I've also tried uninstalling Access Connections. No help.
I've tried using ZoneAlarm, Windows Firewall, and no firewall at all. It doesn't work under any of these options.
So what can I do?! I've got to believe this is a software/config problem and not a hardware problem given that wifi still works fine in a couple of places. I've run out of things to try, though.
I should say that all of the wifi spots in question are free, public sites not using WEP or any other kind of security. My system is a ThinkPad T30 with built-in wifi running XP Pro with all the dozens of updates installed. I've insured the BIOS on my system as well as the device drivers are all up to date.
HELP!
-Ziad