Wireless wont login after sleep

[Thameslink]

Hi,
I'm having a problem with my ubuntu 8.10 laptop.
If I leave it alone for a while after it goes to sleep, I'm unable to log into the wireless network without a restart.
It seems to see the network (although I'm unable to try selecting an alternative) and the little green spinney things keep going round, eventually it asks me for the network key.
The network key displayed in the dialog box is all messed up and retyping the proper one dosn't help.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I have

Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter

[ercferret18]

well, you can stop your laptop from automatically sleeping in system, preferences, power management

[Thameslink]

Granted, but it seems a bit wasteful

[ercferret18]

i had a problem similar to this before, and what worked for me was to boot into windows and connect to it, then boot back into ubuntu.

[Thameslink]

In my efforts to move away from windows, I have removed it.