Network Connection Problem - Freezing

Lately it's been happening more frequently than before. I would suddenly get disconnected from my wireless internet but the connection indicator would freeze and show that I am still connected when I am obviously not. When I try to go through the Network from Control Panel, it would not load up at all. At first I thought it was my router's problem but I am able to connect with my ipod touch without any problems. The only way I could temporarily fix it is by restarting my laptop but then it would freeze up AGAIN in a short period of time. So it's very frustrating to have to reboot every hour or so. I'm using a Dell Inspiron 1521 running on Vista. I'm going to admit I am a total noob so any information regarding the NIC, you'll have to be very specific lol.

Thanks!

 

Make sure your power management is not dropping or lowered your power to the wireless card. If you have a phone near by these can interrupt wireless service. Does it work fine using a wired connection?

Have you received any updates lately? If this just started try rolling back to a point where every thing worked.

It's possiable that the wireless card is having a problem, overheating then locking up. May want to contact Dell if still under warranty and get an replacement. Changing cards is pretty simple on some.