Are some wireless adapters better than others and if so how can you tell? There's a huge range in price, from around $9 to $70. (which is odd when you think about it... I can't think of any ordinary home-user peripherals with prices that vary by a factor of almost 10!)
Also, is PCI better than USB?
I have a Netgear WG11v2 USB adapter, which has 802.11g and is about 3 years old. I think. With the Netgear, the connection speed on my desktop is definitely slower than my roommates older, less powerful laptop.
Also it can lose the connection every two or three minutes, for hours at a stretch - and then it might stay connected for hours with no problem.
I'm guessing the easiest solution would be to try a new adapter, mostly because I can't imagine there's anything that can be done to the computer if the dropped connections are so inconsistent.