If it's not the hardware, may be external source interfering with the signal....

Here's a link to see if another signal is interfering with your's...

G_Bison is pointing you correctly - if neighbors happen to be using the same channel, connections can be iffy no matter how good the router.  I suspect you are savvy to that, though.  I had problems a couple of years ago with my D-Link router dropping connection to my laptop frequently without any of the usual culprits being present & D-Link support was unable to get it working, ultimately had to solve it with a Netgear router.  Not necessarily your issue, but ya never know.

Nothing is interfering with the signal. The notebook just likes to drop the signal then require the signal.

and my favourite ENEMY for notebook issues is POWER Management, ie remove the option for windows to TURN OFF the network adapter when running on mains in the network adapter advanced properties in the device manager.

harpo

I doubt that's the issue but I'll look into it.

You need to state more specific info about what is exactly happening. How is it dropping connection? What will it say, i mean some kind of error message, or can you ran some diagnostic like on Win7 or something?

I had issue with my home wifi network, after i bought iphone 4s, everytime i tried to access mails or safari from the phone, it would drop the connection, more specifically, the DNS server would not respond. I could not reach these services from the phone, neither could i access internet on my desktop, unless i rebooted the modem manually with the button. Interestingly, Skype or ICQ were still available, because apparently they bypass the whole DNS thing or what.

The solution for me was to set the exact IP address of my ISP´s DNS servers in the connection properties on the desktop, or manually set it on the phone - by default the preset DNS was the IP of my modem/router (or was it localhost, not sure now).

Hey I don't know how I can be more clear. My girlfriend will be doing something on Facebook and the notebook will lose the connection with the router. No message is given. The notebook then reconnects after a period of time. This happens multiple times.

I'm not sure how to set up XP to lock on to the router using anything but auto DNS. Not even sure that's the issue.

Mhm, cant help you then, i suppose, sorry. I could post some kind of tutorial for you, how to manually set the DNS, its not that complicated, but its probably pointless, if we do not know for sure, its the DNS causing the problem. Which probably isnt, if it reconnects itself, i had to reboot the router for it to happen in my case, so the "symptoms" are different.

Hopefully someone else will be able to help you.   

I had the same issue with my wifes laptop. It turned out there were several contributing factors, one of which I think you have already ruled out.

Other Wifi using same channel. (We had quite a few neighbors go wireless in the past year and it was just a matter of time. We had that issue , had channel changed, still had issue)

Number of devices on network. (We had xbox, PS3, 2 PC's, laptop, and droids and iphone on network. Had to reset the number of allowable devices. THAT solved the issue.)

How far is the router from the laptop? Could be a weak signal from some kind of interference. Does she live in an apartment or multiple tenant building? Have you tried to duplicate the issue on another router? (friends house, Starbucks, etc.)

And you may want to look into this. Here is a thread I found..  go down to post #98. One of the issues was with the driver update for the wireless card. The manufacturers driver update corrected the issue where 'Intels' update did not. Different PC brand and does not mention router, but it could be something to check.

we also a similar situation however updating the firmware solved our issue.

Just curious -

Are you using fixed IP addresses or letting the router assign them?  Could it be an 'IP renewal' issue?

About 10 feet. Not very far.

Apartment.

No we have not tried to duplicate the issue. I don't have another router to try. I may try going out of the house with the notebook to see if it's the router.

I have tried both the Gateway driver and the Intel driver. I get the same result with both.

I have the newest firmware on the router.

I'm letting the router assign everything. Out of 5 devices that use the router in the home this notebook is the only one that exhibits this behavior. Funny thing is that if I run Linux on the machine the signal is not dropped. Must be a Windows issue, not a router issue.

Kona... maybe you should pm the_Monk. He's very knowledgable regarding routers and their problems.

One thing does occur to me. You haven't really isolated the problem to the router. It could be the modem. Try to take that out of the equation by turning the router off and connecting directly to the modem. Next, check this: When the Internet connection drops out again by pinging the IP address of your router (probably either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1). The router pings, the problem is with the cable company or their equipment (further up the line from their modem is still possible... so if the modem looks ok, check this possibility).

At least you'll be further along in the problem solving. Next question is does task manager still show she's connected without getting the net. Since you've updated with firmware, that leaves the network card as a major suspect. Another - confused autodetection speeds. You'll find that out by checking her connection speed and the network cards properties.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-router-drops,review-129.html

I actually have the same problem at my house.  My configuration is: wired/wireless router hooked into Vonage box hooked intoo router.  The router will randomly (sometimes a hour or 2 after resetting it) drop ALL internet connection that are wireless.  There is no dice in trying to hook the router into the modem (doesn't work at all).  The solution on my end is to reset the wireless by disabling and re-enabling it.  I wonder if my problem is related to high traffic.  The router is a Netgear n600 dual-band wifi gigabit router.  A dump from the router of its logs of what happens before the wireless goes down would be GREAT to have but I dunno how to get at that.  The range for the drops ranges from ~50 feet to 30 feet 2 rooms away and upstairs).  ALL the wireless signal from the router drops at once.  Annoying to have and a solution would be helpful

It can't be the router for two reasons. One, every other internet connected device does not drop signal and two, when Linux is installed on the machine the notebook itself does not drop the connection. The problem has to be in the Windows driver used for this hardware in XP. I will try an older version of the driver and see if that works.

How many do you have, and does it happen when only the laptop is connected (and not the other devices)? I'm not saying it isn't the driver. It might very well be.

Everything I have seen that would involve Windows concerns either WIndows XP SP1 (Or 2 or 3...SP3 being the most frequently mentioned)or Power Management with your particular Wireless Card.  I also came across quite a few ( alot, really) of threads that just talked down your particular wireless card. It seems to be a common issue with that model card and the router was different in most of the threads.

There may still be an off chance it is interference. That's why I would try to duplicate it at another location (private and/or public). I found this, which I wasn't aware of...

"See if any of the possible 2.4GHz sources apply:
<http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Interference>
The problem is that the typical site survey tool won't show all the
networks thanks to the moronic security suggestion of not broadcasting
the SSID. However, Kismet under Linux will show these and clients.

However, you still won't see everything. The new and allegedly
improved MIMO systems can be set to be invisible and still trash much
of the 2.4GHz band. Fortunately, the default setup is "Mixed Mode"
which should be visible.""

2 XP machines, one of them is the notebook we are discussing, 1 Windows 7 machine, 1 Nintendo Wii, 1 Sony PSP.

Any good solutions found?

Is your router set-up to allow multiple devices? ANd if so how many? Sounds stupid, I know, but try it with all of the others off and make sure your phones are not connected to the network. Everytime I put my Droid on Wifi, it bumped everyone else in the house off of Wifi. It took me a couple weeks to figure out it was the Droid. I had to expand my allowed devices to make it stop. (If you have that Wii set for internet , specifically connected to your home network with a password and all- unplug it. Mine still gets damn emails even when I have it turned off)

I'm looking for a fix. No one seems to have beat it, though. Most common thing I see is that this is common with WIndows XP and your particular wireless card. They blame the Service Packs, mostly SP3, the driver updates for the card, and interference. Have not found anyone who has actually fixed it yet, except for the guy who downloaded the card update from Dell when the Intel update would not fix the issue.

Common theme is interference and from what I have seen, there really is no way to see ALL the networks around you. A few switched from WPA to WEP and got 'some' improvement (Stronger ping - 70%) and not dropping as frequently or as much. I'll keep looking til YRAG shows up.

**EDIT - Check with your provider on who is using what channel. That;s how I found out about that little issue. There were wifi's I could NOT see on my PC when I did a search. They will know for sure if anyone is on your channel.

One final note..I went through something like this on my step-sons PC about a year ago. YRAG helped me and we couldn't find the answer. Then I stumbled across someone who had the same issue. I actually had to download an 'exe that tricked the wireless card into thinking my router was another brand and channel (n,g,d or whatever it had to be convinced of) and it worked. I will have to see if I can find that. I thought I saved it but I have to many damn bookmarks. 

Look at this. HERE

If I read it right.. IF...there is a Broadcom 54g driver you may need. (This article lists your model Gateway) The issue was resolved. It is looking more and more like a WindowsXP Service PAck issue from what I can see. I hope something in all of this helps.

***Your provider can (at least I know TW can) tell you how many devices your router is set to allow AND reset it if needed...providing you received your router from them. If not, I don't know if they will help you at all.