Vista - Wireless doesn't automatically connect, have to enter IP, problems!

Hiya, new to these forums and a bit of a computer idiot!

I've recently moved back home and when trying to connect to the wireless network here it got stuck on "identifying." Now i have no idea how to get around this apart from manually entering the IP etc.

I did this and it successfully connected, however, when playing online games it disconnects frequently and does so to a lesser degree when browsing etc.

It's really frustrating.

I'm using Vista Home Premium 32bit with an edimax router on a laptop.

Any thought or suggestions would be much appreciated!
thanks