My computer keeps losing its wireless connection

I have a second gen Airport Express connected to a DSL modem; my main computer is a Mini, late 2012 model, running Mountain Lion on 8 gb ram. On this network, I normally also connect a MacBook running Leopard, and iPad and an iPhone.
The Apple Airport Express model is not the newest, it is A1264 54 Mbps Wireless N Router (MB321LL/A). I've been using it about 2 ½ years without problems.
Just recently, however, my Mini has stopped holding on to the connection. At first, I figured it was a network issue, but I've done' some trouble shooting and find that is not the case. The network is fine when I plug ethernet direct from the modem into my computer, and I have even gone so far as to set my computer up as the wireless point of connection for the other devices, and the connection speed makes me think that the wireless card in the computer is operating just fine.
When the Airport is the wireless connection point, all the other devices have no problems, but the Mini is just awful; I have found after considerable frustration that when a page fails to load or another call to the network fails to execute, I can mouse-click the wireless symbol on the menu bar and see that the Wi-Fi is "looking for Networks," and after a brief pause with the spinning wheel animation, it finds my network in the list and turns itself on.
Forgive me, but WTH? I suspect this is something fairly simple, a setting, but what? I was all set to buy a new Airport Express, but I really don't want to if this is something fixable.
Does anyone know what's going on here?
I can tell you that the modem is set to "bridge" mode. After 10 years, the modem was replaced about a year ago, but I've had this setup for about 11 years, DSL in to a DSL modem to wireless router (always the original Apple Airport Base Station or an Airport Express, I've cooked a couple over the years).

Thanks, that may put me closer to a fix, but I'm not there yet.
I'm not sure I made it clear, what's happening is the WiFi grip on the internet hangs and then drops. I have learned that when the browser progress bar halts or a podcast download slows to a crawl, I can click the WiFi icon on the top menu and it will sometimes goose the network back to a secure connection and the task will complete; other times it drops entirely, forcing me to restart everything.
I have now ordered a new Airport Express, but won't have it until the week-end. I will then have 3 months of phone support. I was shocked to find Apple has raised the price for phone support, and while I did get a little free help yesterday, all the woman really did was get me to buy new stuff. I can't afford this. And I will bet that the new router will not solve the problem.
I am trying to use the Wireless Diagnostics app to get some idea of what is causing the connection to hang and fail. The Apple support person did not suggest this, but I am using the utilities feature to actually watch the connection struggle and then drop; I then generate a WiFi report and try to see what was happening when the failure occurred.
Sometimes these drops are temporary, and sometimes they require a modem and router re-start.
The problem is, I have no idea what these reports mean. I have tried to read the instructions, and I'm not doing very well at that. AFAICT, there is no problem with any of my settings. Other devices on the network do not lose connection the way the mini does. I don't use any location settings. so that's not applicable. I have gone over the "best practices" list and think I'm in compliance with all the recommendations. It seems odd to me that the Apple page [About Wireless Diagnostics - Apple Support] tells the user what's in the diagnostics report, but does not mention what to do with the information, how to understand it or use it. I have been watching the performance graph, and sure enough, when the connection fails, the graph reflects the failure. It operates in the excellent range most of the time, or slips into the "good" range, but I have not seen it in the poor range, it just drops. Then the Airport Untility shows the router with a yellow triangle sign with an exclamation point in the middle.
I can post the WiFi logs if anyone can understand them.

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