If you continually run into network interference from a neighbor or nearby business network, change the channel on your router.
If you've changed channels and nothing seems to work, try this Netgear adapter kit. It's plug and play right out of the box, nothing complicated here.
Someone just asked me how to add a laptop to their wireless network and while the instructions are far too long to add here, it made me think of a few items to share. When setting up your wireless network for the first time, be sure to change the following settings:
The name of your wireless network should be unique and not the default description and never use anything identifiable. Believe it or not, I've seen wireless networks that have been addresses and names!
Hide your network, this means set to "do not broadcast". Just make sure when adding your wireless network to the laptop you click the little box for hidden networks.
Use Mac address filters. This is where you find each computers Mac address and add it to your routers settings. I'm assuming here if you're setting up your own wireless network you are savvy enough to know where to find your Mac address. (hint... use ipconfig /all in the cmd prompt)
I'm not going to lie and tell you that this will make your network invincible because there is no such thing. However, anything you can do to make it difficult for a hacker you should do.