3000 N100 Wireless Cuts out

[ParatoOptimal]

I have an 3000 N100 running Ubuntu 10.4.

I can watch Firefox downloads cycle to very slow speeds and back up to higher speeds.
Sometimes Firefox downloads will show any given throughput high or low but there'll be NO ticking up of the amount download nor ticking down of the time remaining.
All of a sudden it will continue the DL or it will jump to far less time remaining.
I believe that's my Verizon DSL because it happens with every laptop/desktop both wired and wireless.

My 3000 N100 is the only one I've noticed that actually drops the wireless connection.
Ubuntu tells me I'm disconnected and a few seconds or less later, it tells me I'm connected.
It doesn't matter which router I'm connecting to. Well, I don't recall dropping connects at Starbucks.
Some days it doesn't happen. Other days it may happens once. Other days it happens 2 or MORE times.
I don't know what wireless card I have. I assume it's 11b. I assume it's the stock card bundled with this laptop.
The problem is if I had a LONG download in progress, the disconnect bombs the DL and I have to start over.

Is there a better card that I could install that wouldn't suffer disconnects?