Atheros ath5k: hardware drivers driver stops it from working (not that it works well anyway)

So the live CD detects Atheros wireless from Ath5k driver fine, can see networks though none of them were open for me to connect to. So on live cd wireless is okay.... but:
T
he default install adds on something in jockey-gtk (hardware driver manager) that is called "support for atheros wireless LAN cards" by default. With this installed and active, the system actually doesn't detect a wireless card at all.

With it disabled, ubuntu does detect the wireless card and uses the ath5k kernel driver. However reception is poor and connections are often dropped. As reference, hardy heron with a 2.6.27 kernel from the onelinux project gets much better reception and stability with the same kernel driver. But main point is that the "support" seems to actually be a hardware block. The enabled "support for atheros cards" clearly STOPS the card from working rather than improve its usability. With the workaround enabled no wireless interface is even detected.

PC is an Acer Aspire One newer model with 8gb solid state, 1gb RAM, and 6 cell battery.

also wanted to include linux-image-2.6.27-4-generic in the affects line of bug description.