I have the exact same problem. I've experienced it on both 2.6.24-16 and 2.6.24-17. My ndiswrapper info is: bcmwl5 : driver installed device (14E4:4311) present (alternate driver: ssb) Ndiswrapper and wpa_suppliant versions: ii ndisgtk 0.8.3-1 graphical frontend for ndiswrapper (installa ii ndiswrapper-common 1.50-1ubuntu1 Common scripts required to use the utilities ii ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 1.50-1ubuntu1 Userspace utilities for the ndiswrapper Linu ii wpasupplicant 0.6.0+0.5.8-0ubuntu2 Client support for WPA and WPA2 (IEEE 802.11 Here's what syslog has to say: May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Updating allowed wireless network lists. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: SWITCH: no current connection, found better connection 'wlan0'. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon dhcdbd: message_handler: message handler not found under /com/redhat/dhcp/wlan0 for sub-path wlan0.dbus.get.reason May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Will activate connection 'wlan0/Shambhala'. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Device wlan0 activation scheduled... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) started... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0/wireless): access point 'Shambhala' is encrypted, but NO valid key exists. New key needed. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) New wireless user key requested for network 'Shambhala'. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) New wireless user key for network 'Shambhala' received. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete. May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting... May 27 08:46:48 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0/wireless): access point 'Shambhala' is encrypted, and a key exists. No new key needed. May 27 08:46:49 epsilon NetworkManager: retry to connect to global supplicant socket (try=1) May 27 08:46:49 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'INTERFACE_ADD wlan0^I^Iwext^I/var/run/wpa_supplicant0^I' May 27 08:46:49 epsilon kernel: [ 88.035553] NET: Registered protocol family 17 May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'AP_SCAN 1' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'ADD_NETWORK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was '0' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 ssid 5368616d6268616c61' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 proto WPA' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 key_mgmt WPA-PSK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 psk ' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: sending command 'ENABLE_NETWORK 0' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: SUP: response was 'OK' May 27 08:46:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete. May 27 08:46:53 epsilon kernel: [ 91.798067] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready May 27 08:46:54 epsilon avahi-daemon[5212]: Registering new address record for fe80::21a:73ff:fe98:a104 on wlan0.*. May 27 08:47:03 epsilon kernel: [ 101.851382] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0/wireless): association took too long (>60s), failing activation. May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) failure scheduled... May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) failed for access point (Shambhala) May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Activation (wlan0) failed. May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: Deactivating device wlan0. May 27 08:47:50 epsilon avahi-daemon[5212]: Withdrawing address record for fe80::21a:73ff:fe98:a104 on wlan0. May 27 08:47:50 epsilon NetworkManager: nm_device_802_11_wireless_set_essid(): error setting ESSID to '' for device wlan0: Invalid argument My wireless endpoint info: Cell 01 - Address: 00:18:D1:96:1E:0C ESSID:"Shambhala" Protocol:IEEE 802.11g Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11) Quality:73/100 Signal level:-49 dBm Noise level:-96 dBm Encryption key:on Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s Extra:bcn_int=200 Extra:atim=0 IE: WPA Version 1 Group Cipher : CCMP Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP Authentication Suites (1) : PSK And finally, here's an lspci just for completeness: 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 03) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f3) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03) 01:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94311MCG wlan mini-PCI (rev 02) 02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)