Are you using WEP or WPA? Because Ubuntu doesn't support WPA right out the box, you'll need to get it
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WPAHowTo
WEP, I think 64 bit will work with Ubuntu, not to sure about 128 bit.
Things to check, make sure the SSID are type in correctly, they are case senstive, so are your key.
type iwconfig to see the wireless configuration.