mnkysn,
Sorry for the delay, work. I do not work for Dell, so I know nothing about their technical support.
I guess I should have asked the make and model of your computer. I would like to suggest the German drivers from Dell's Drivers & Downloads
Go to device manager(right click my computer, left click properties, left click hardware, left click device manager)
Click on network adapter, double click on Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection, click on advanced.
Change the settings for the following
Power Management = highest
Roaming Aggressiveness = Highest
Transmit Power = Highest
Wireless mode = G mode only
Did you try allowing Windows to manage your connection? How can I disable wireless configuration services and enable the Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration services
On an XP Operating system, if the computer goes to sleep or hibernates, the wireless adapter does not always come back on. Pressing F2, or Fn and F2 bring up the adapter so it can be disabled, then enable it. I disabled sleep and hibernate on the last XP system in our home.
Rick