Well, I got the laptop to connect so the only issue is with the home xp machine which is a new build. I'm more convinced it's a hardware conflict on the computer side. The LAN and wireless are both atheros chips and the LAN will hic-up when I remove the wireless drivers. I may try letting windows install it's preferred driver and see if that makes a difference. The new wireless card will be a cisco chip, and will hopefully arrive soon from Newegg.