Can not connect to Non Broadcasting SSID

I am able to connect to a broadcasting ssid, but the minute I try to connect to a non broadcasting ssid, the adapter just sits there renewing ip address. In one laptop I replaced the wireless card and it fixed it, for awhile then it did it again. I keep the old one so I put it back in there and it works to this day. But i have other laptops that are doing the same thing, and I know its not a hardware issue. By the way they are Dell Lattitude E5500, w/ XP. Has anyone ran into this issue before and how did you fix it.