After getting used to the flakiness of the wireless for the last five years, I decided to do something about it.
I had heard about things like X10 using the electrical system to connect remote controlled devices (i.e. lighting) and that there were boxes that could be used for networking. I went to Best Buy and picked up a NetGear network adapter. It cost $99. There were two other models from $169 to $199 that allowed for faster throughput. The $99 allowed for up to 14 Mbps, which was plenty fast given the fact that my Internet access was only six Mbps.
I plugged the box into the electrical outlet, connected the included network cable to the box and to my router. I then went to my office to plug the matching box into the wall and plugged the included network cable into my laptop, and it worked perfectly. No more dropped connections and faster throughput.
Fight the power cable!