Richard Hector, 27.12.2013:
In the Network Manager applet, if you go into the settings for a
wireless
network, there's a check box at the bottom that says "usable by all
users"
or something like that. If that's checked, I think I still have to log
in once
to establish the wireless connection but the connection stays active
after
I log out. (And if the wireless network has "connect automatically"
checked,
I don't need to manually connect after I log in.) I think this is part
of
the solution you're looking for.
If you want the laptop to connect without logging in at all, there's
probably
a way but I don't know offhand. (I occasionally start networks without
logging
into the gui, using nmcli, but that still requires me to use the
console.)