SuSE 10.1 & Netgear WG311T w-lan adapter. Got it working but not automatically (at boot)

Hi all. The situation is this. I've installed the madwifi rpms and Yast2 correctly identifies the wlan card. I have configured the card using Yast2 setting the encryption and all. Card just won't connect. But if I use KNetworkManager and choose "Connect to Other Wireless Network" and adds ESSID, passphrase it works. Problem is that this computer must connect to the network at boot and stay connected. What can I do about this? Executing iwconfig shows the card as ath0 but no ESSID or other information is entered. The file at /etc/sysconfig/ifcfg-wlan_*********** shows the information I have entered in Yast2. I've spent 7hrs on this now... Appreciate all help possible. (: Thanks!