Wireless Laptops - losing internet access on batteries

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I have a relatively new Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with the built-in wireless
card. We are on DSL right now using a D-Link DI-514 router. OS is XP SP2.

Everything works fine until I try and work off of the battery. Then my
internet connection gets bad almost immediately. Last night I actually lost
the connection to the router and all I could get was "accuiring network
address...." until I gave up. This afternoon I tried again. I did not lose
connection but I felt like I was back on dial up so I switched back to AC
power after about 5 minutes.

Is this a power management issue or something wrong with my laptop?

Any ideas? This really defeats the idea of having a wireless laptop if I
can't use the internet while on battery power. :-(

TIA,
Laura