Wifi problem (IBM Access Connections, choosing encryption type)

[hans.x41]

Frequent problem:

Sometimes I'm in a new place (hotel, restaurant, etc.) and they give me the Wifi password and network name (SSID). I create a location profile in IBM Access Connections but can't connect to their network. The diagnostics (when I click "Help me fix this") says I need to check the encryption type expected by the Wifi router. I can ask, but then the people who work in these places have no idea what I'm talking about.

So, what I do is try all 4 possible encryption types that I can select (WEP, WPA/TKIP, WPA/AES, WPA2/AES), and I get the same error (as above) every time. This is while other people are able to successfully connect to their Wifi router.

Three questions:

Anyone else experiencing this?

Anyone know how to get this thing working?

Is there any diagnostic tool I can run on my X41 that will detect the encryption type expected by the Wifi router and tell me what it is? It seems that this should be possible (unless my hardware doesn't allow it) because I noticed that some people with smart phones can see what encryption types are expected by nearby Wifi routers (and I don't have a smart phone).

System: IBM ThinkPad X41 notebook, WinXP/SP3.

I'd appreciate any way forward as this problem is frequent and maddening.

[RealBlackStuff]

Try inSSIDer from www.metageek.com

Most networks are WPA2 nowadays.

Instead of using the ancient IBM Access Connections, let Windows make the connections.
What wifi card do you use?
Assuming you have an X41:
The better original ones were Intel 2200BG (several) or Atheros AR5BMB-44 (39T0355)
With a modded BIOS you could also install wifi-N up to 300MbpS: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301943752933

[Puppy]

Remove the Access Connections and use default Windows manager. What exact wifi card do you have ? Some very old ones does not support WPA2 so you can't connect anywhere these days.