Help needed to troubleshoot why my MacBook Pro repeatedly drops wifi connection

Question

We run Mac & PC laptops, iPhone, iPad on occasion, with ATT DSL, 2Wire 2701HG-B Router. First 6 months of enjoying my Mac, no trouble. Then things started to go south. Been dealing with this problem of dropped internet connection for over a year. Got a new router--the 2Wire 2701, finally got a new phone line put in from the outside to inside. It now seems like the MacBook Pro drops the signal far more than the PC. It seems worse when I'm at my desk, which is only a room away from the router. It can drop the signal about every 3rd or 4th click on the internet. The Networks Diagnostics will show red buttons on the Server and Internet. Been testing other areas of the house, and find it seems better in these other areas, dropping far less. Hard to tell, because the problem comes and goes, like the sun. iPhone has dropped connection on occasion. iPad has occasional slow download of YouTube. Neither of those are troubling.
I tried checking with the Airport Utility, but it tells me it can't find any Airport. I obviously understand very, very little of this. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Which os are you using?
Change your router channel.  Sometimes this is all you will have to do.
Power cycling the router.  Read the router's user manual or contact their tech support for instructions.
System Preferences/Internet & Network/Network
Unlock the padlock
Locations:  Automatic
Highlight Airport
Click the Assist Me button
In the popup window click the Diagnostic button.
System Preferences/Network- Unlock padlock.  Highlight Airport.  Network Name-select your name.  Click on the Advanced button.  Airport/Preferred Networks-delete all that is not your network.
Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined."  Click the OK button and lock the padlock.  Restart your computer.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1920 Mac OS: How to release and renew a DHCP lease
No internet connection (wireless)
Check to see if an extra entry is present in the DNS Tab for your wireless connection (System Preferences/Network/Airport/Advanced/DNS).
Delete all extra entries that you find.
Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined."
Other resources to check into:
Troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues in OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6
Netspot
How to diagnose and resolve Wi-Fi slow-downs
Pv6 troubleshooting
Mac OS X 10.6 Help:  Solving problems with connecting to the Internet
What Affects Wireless Internet?
Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting