Tvad - go to Network Preferences and hit advanced and see whether the box "remember networks this computer has joined" is checked. If it isn't checked, check it and see whether that fixes your problem. To answer your question, my network is password protected and yet I don't have your issue. I hope this fixes it for you.
As for the iTunes playback issue, I imagine there are a couple of settings you need to fiddle with on iTunes, and I'd guess that a kid at Apple tech support should be able to help you fix that pretty easily.
As for the iTunes playback issue, I imagine there are a couple of settings you need to fiddle with on iTunes, and I'd guess that a kid at Apple tech support should be able to help you fix that pretty easily.

