Network Adaptor conundrums

[Petrus de Calguarium]

Marko Vojinovic wrote:

> I think you should select the 'activate when computer starts' checkbox,
> and save settings. AFAIK, NetworkManager should also respect this setting.
> Try it and reboot, hopefully it will connect as you want it to (using NM).

Having 2 computers is often helpful, especially when one is not working 
correctly. I verified last night: on my laptop, where NetworkManager and 
networking work without me clicking the systray icon, 'activate when computer 
starts' is *not checked* and the network is started automatically upon login.

I also know with 100% certainty that with my old motherboard on this computer, 
'activate when computer starts' was also *not checked* and I did not need to 
click the systray applet icon to get the network connected.

So why would I need to toggle this setting to get NM to connect without me 
clicking the applet icon? Clearly there is another problem afoot.