trouble connecting to wifi access point

[tom arnall <kloro2006@gmail.com>]

i am having trouble connecting to one of the wifi access points in my n'hood.

when i do this:

	sudo   modprobe ath_pci
	sudo   modprobe wlan_scan_sta
	sudo   iwpriv ath0 mode 2
	sudo   wlanconfig ath0 list scan
	sudo   iwlist ath0 scan
	sudo   iwconfig ath0 ap any

i get:

	SSID            BSSID              CHAN RATE  S:N   INT CAPS
	WanderingWiFi   00:90:0e:00:e4:79    6   22M 29:0   100 EB
	kate_office     00:30:bd:c6:86:72   11   11M  3:0   100 EP
	01DD            00:40:96:41:ea:4a    6   11M  5:0   100 EP
	ath0      Scan completed :
         	 Cell 01 - Address: 00:90:0E:00:E4:79
                  	  ESSID:"WanderingWiFi"
                  	  Mode:Master
                  	  Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                  	  Quality=29/94  Signal level=-66 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                  	  Encryption key:off
                  	  Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s
                  	  Extra:bcn_int=100
but when i do this:

	sudo  iwpriv ath0 mode 2
	sudo  iwconfig ath0 essid "WanderingWifi"
	sudo  iwconfig ath0 ap 00:90:0E:00:E4:79
	sudo  dhclient ath0
	sudo  iwlist ath0 scan 
	ping xspace.com
	
i get:

	Internet Software Consortium DHCP Client 2.0pl5
	Listening on LPF/ath0/00:0d:88:bb:51:91
	Sending on   LPF/ath0/00:0d:88:bb:51:91
	Sending on   Socket/fallback/fallback-net
	DHCPREQUEST on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
	DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
	No DHCPOFFERS received.
	Trying recorded lease 192.168.0.106
	PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.

	--- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
	1 packets transmitted, 0 received, +1 errors, 100% packet loss, time 0ms

	bound: renewal in 16514 seconds.
	ath0      Interface doesn't support scanning : Invalid argument

	ping: unknown host xspace.com

also, doing exactly the same thing  -- ap address and essid string changed of 
course -- i get a connection at another wifi site. and the result of 'iwlist 
ath0 scan' etc at the sites is identical except for the access point and 
essid string.

ideas?

thanks,

tom arnall
north spit, ca