Mini 9 won't pickup network w/out being plugged in for power

So, we got a new ISP in the house. Yesterday, I hooked up my shiny new Linksys WRT54G2 router. Everything seemed to be working fine. I started by connecting an older IBM Thinkpad, moved on to my Dell XPS M1330. They both connected effortlessly and had great, speedy connections. I tried to connect with my Dell Mini 9 and it couldn't find any networks (my neighbors have a few that my computers usually pick up on). Anyways, I ended up plugging it in to the wall to charge it and messing with some stuff and then rebooting it. Voila! Internet!...until I unplug the laptop from the wall. Now I've messed with so many settings and configurations on my network adapter, including power management, I don't know where to go from here.

Just this morning, Ive plugged the mini in and it finds the network, but still can't seem to get to the internet. I've tried pinging my router and google.com, it just times out.

Should I just uninstall the whole network adapter and reinstall it?

I had never had a problem with the Mini or it's internet connectivity before. So, I have a Mini 9, running windows XP (I formated it after I got it and put on a clean version of Windows), upgraded to 2g of ram and it has an 8GB SSD. The network adapter is a Broadcom 802.11g running with a 4.170.77.3 driver.

I am so frustrated and at my wit's end. Thanks in advance to anyone that can provide me with any information.

Apologies for going so long without response.. Check your network adapter properties, settings, and see if there is a power saver setting ..someetimes says "reduce power when unplugged" or something similar and disable that. Report back