"It will and does lose connection for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and then picks it up again, seemingly randomly," Gilmore [a Network Administrator with MicroDisplay] said. "At first, it was so aggravating. And now, it's considered a normal factor of working with Windows."

From anecdotal evidence, most users assume the problem is with the Wi-Fi hardware. But the trouble seems to arise from a tool in Windows XP called Wireless Zero Configuration, a feature that was meant to do away with the mishmash of software drivers and configuration utilities.

"There is a way of getting lost Wi-Fi connections going again, but it involves going deep into XP's settings every time the problem arises, Fleishman [editor of WI-FI Networking News] said. And the fix could be a nightmare for people like Gilmore, who don't want less-advanced users mucking around with the guts of the operating system."