strange connection problems

Hello! I've been searching the web for answers to my connection problems, but no dice. Even though my signal strength usually says "Very Good" or "Excellent", I keep losing my wireless connection. The icon on my taskbar says I'm connected, but I'm not. And sometimes it will say I'm not connected, but I am.

It's a new laptop, and there isn't a newer driver to install. It's my own network -- a Verizon FIos wireless network -- and the router's in my bedroom. I tried changing the Power Management settings, I tried doing a complete system restore, I've tried deleting my wireless profile and setting it up all over again. My laptop has no problem finding the connection at first. But after about an hour or so (I've gotten up to 2 1/2 hours before getting tired and going to bed), my connection suddenly drops. I can't connect to any web page. It's not Firefox, because the same thing happens with Internet Explorer. The wireless network icon says I'm still connected, with "Very Good" signal strength, but no pages load and I get that "Can't find server" message. I open up my Intel PROset wireless program, and it says my wireless adapter is turned off, though there's a checkmark next to "Wireless On". I even try turning off my wireless manually (I have to hold down a function key and press another key with the wireless icon on it), and then turning it on. The status light goes off, then on, like it should, but nothing changes. Last time it happened, I looked at the Wireless Event Viewer, and it said something like "Wireless was turned off" (I can't remember precisely what), and the time stamp is a few minutes ago, when I lost my connection. The same message is displayed one minute ago, which is when I manually turned off the wireless adapter. So it looks like something is turning off my wireless adapter, but I don't know what or why. I re-checked the Power Management settings and made sure the box that says "Allow windows to turn off this device to save power" is unchecked. I'm stumped and frustrated.

I uninstalled all the free programs that came with my computer, and it was still happening. I don't think it's a problem with my network, because my husband can connect just fine with his laptop. I know I need to try connecting to a different network and see if it still happens, but I just can't get time to do it (I'm home sick today, so maybe I'll drag my butt to the library and try the public wireless there). Anyway, I'm not sure if it's a program conflict; I was only running the programs that came with my computer. Still, I tried uninstalling McAfee, and still had the same program. Right now I'm running Norton Anti-Virus.

I would be very grateful for any help. I've looked on a lot of web forums, but the only responses I see are "What's your signal strength like?" and other stuff that I know probably isn't the problem. I read that gerat "How to ask Questions" page someone was nice enough to post (Thank you!), so I hope I've given enough information about what the problem is and what I've tried. I'm putting my faith in the LiveJournal community. Help! And thank you.