Re: why am I getting an authentication problem with WiFi connection
Using the wrong password would do it.
Or you could have connected to a router with the same name but different authentication before, and the phone is still using the same authentication as the old one. Forget the connection and try again..
Or it could be that the phone and the router aren't compatible. (Standards are nice - until a few companies change what they consider the standard. Android phones won't get any speed on some Linksys routers using TKIP encryption.)