Network Issues on new Win7 PC...Help appreciated.

Just got a new PC yesterday and cannot connect to my wireless network. The network appears in the list of available networks, but will not connect. After a while of trying, Windows says in cannot connect to the hidden network. The network isn't hidden. I am broadcasting SSID.
Even more maddeningly, once in a while it will connect to the network and show that it has internet access, but as soon as I try to connect it drops the connection and gives me the message about the hidden network.
Right now, the computer is on the local network, but without internet access. When I try to diagnose/repair the connection, it tells me to restart my modem/router. I have restarted them more times in the last 24 hours than I have in the last 6 months and it isn't doing any good. The connection is WPA2 AES encrypted. From what I have read, Win7 isn't keen on WPA security. A lot of the places I have looked for answers say to switch to WEP, but I'm not comfortable doing that.
This is my first Win7 experience and it is driving me up a wall!

Try changing the channel that your Wifi is broadcasting on.

PooMan UK said:

Have you tried changing your wi-fi security on your router to WEP just for testing purposes ? This way you could eliminate this as being part of the problem

I went a step further and disabled security on the network and still nothing.

The specs on the new PC are:

Windows 7 Home Premium 64

Intel Pentium T4400 @ 2.20 GHz

Atheros AR928X Wireless Adapter

4GB DDR3 RAM

EDIT: Let me know if these specs are irrelevant, I will post whatever info you need.

Would suggest updating the drivers for your wireless

Download Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter...r

UPDATE:

I figured part of the problem may be that the wireless signal was a little too weak. Most of the time I was getting a 3-bar or "fair" signal, so I got a range extender.

Since then, the signal has improved dramatically. However, the problem is still there...only this time I am able to connect for a short period of time before the connection drops.

Here is what I can tell you:


1. The network is still visible and shows up on my list of available connections.

2. 9 out of 10 times, it will flat out not connect and diagnosing the connection still tells me to reset my modem or router.

3. The only way I have been able to connect is to remove the connection from the list under "Manage Wireless Networks", reconnect manually and re-enter the WPA key. Though it works, I am eventually disconnected after a period of time and have to repeat those steps to reconnect.

4. I am really puzzled by the fact that I have the connection set to connect automatically if in range, yet once I am disconnected it will not attempt to reconnect. I have to go into the available networks and click "connect", which just brings me back to Item #2. When I manually reconnect after removing the network from the list of available connections, the "Connect Automatically" box is already checked...it's very puzzling. When it does this, the network adapter gets stuck "attempting to authenticate". I have to reset it every time.

Any ideas/suggestions?