I'll check into those things.
What's weird is that it always seemed reasonably fine with older Ubuntu versions. It sat for around a year, until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to start using it again (in hopes that it would be good enough for light web stuff while watching TV, etc.). I upgrades to the latest LTS version without much trouble, then started having these disconnection issues. Of course, it's not consistent.
I've got an Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01) according to the "System Testing" thingy.
I suspect there are some motherboard issues with this particular one (USB ports are quite erratic, but everything else seems Ok), but it's been pretty reliable otherwise.
Thanks for the pointers. I'll see if I can track it down without too much time investment....
Cheers,
Scott.