Laptop connects to unsecured networks but not secured?!!?

There are two things to set in wireless security - the type of pword and the encryption. Make sure you're using the same type - WEP, WPA, WPA2 - and the same "sub-setting" - 40 or 64 bit for WEP, TKIP or AES for WPA or WPA2. If either one is wrong, putting in the right pword won't work.