I'm surprised I can't find an answer to this on the forum...
The problem of my network not automatically connecting happens with most (or all) puppy variations. The only time the auto connect works is on a new installation (the first time I boot the livecd), but thereafter it will not automatically connect to my wired network. Why not?
network will not auto-connect on (re)boot
Me thinks- still unresolved. Wired you can probably stick something in rc.local..