Solved! Wireless connection problem with Vista, Acer 3680 laptop & DI-524 router

After an agonizing battle till 4:15 in the night, I finally solved my
wireless connection problem. I'm reporting this for the good of all
you suckers out there in the same boat.

I had purchased an Acer 3680 laptop with Vista Home Basic. The damn
thing just would not connect to my wireless router. This was my first
encounter with Vista and I was disgusted. The laptop could see the
router as the router's name popped up when searching for wireless
networks. But for some reason, it refused to connect. My other
laptop connected to it just fine as did my desktop computer both of
which ran Windows XP.

I tried fooling around with the settings on the Acer laptop (network
settings, latest drivers for network card)..etc to get it to connect.
Didn't work. I tried changing the network encryption password on the
D-Link DI-524 router plus other settings (static/dynamic IP). Didn't
work either. I tried and tried and tried. I almost gave up and
wanted to format the HD of the laptop and install Linux.

As a last ditch effort, I did some research online of others in the
same mess and came up with a theory. Perhaps it was my router's
firmware which needed to be updated to handle Vista. It was a long
shot but I did it. My DI-524 firmware was from 2005 and there was a
2006 update. I tried it... restarted the router... and what happened
next was pure magic.

My Acer laptop connected !!!!!! I almost had a nervous breakdown.

I don't see how Microsoft expects little old ladies to be figuring all
this out but I'll sleep well tonight !

Goodnight all.