Gaming Internet connection randomly disconnects/drops

[the_randomizer]

My ISP is Comcast (I know they suck, but it's the only decent broadband ISP in my hometown), and at first I thought it was their end, but nope, definitely my end. Okay, here's what's going on, my internet connection randomly drops for no apparent reason. Yep, it's theinfamous yellow triangle. I have a network set up, two desktops and one laptop, one (the primary PC) is wired and the other two are wirelessly connected via a D-link router. For as long as we had this router, the internet connection has gone off/disconnected randomly every now and then, which I guess is normal. However, starting last week, it seems to be happening more and more. It will either go back on by itself, or I will need to power cycle both the modem and the router in hopes that it will go back on. Sometimes it doesn't, but most of the time it will. I checked the settings located at 198.168.0.1 and everything seems to be the way it should; nothing seems to be amiss as far as I can tell in the settings. Everything (MAC address, DHCP, subnet mask, etc) is/are at the settings it should be at (default). Twice today I experienced this issue and it's starting to piss me off; and I'm convinced that this sort of issue shouldn't happen THIS frequently.

To sum up:

Internet connection stops working randomly (yellow triangle)
Must power cycle both router and modem and wait for it to go back on
Checked router IP address and nothing seems amiss
Opened Network and Sharing Center (oddly enough, using that sometimes kicks the connection back "on")
Use CMD: ping randomsite.com....nothing

Yeah, this is frustrating. Is my router jacked up and/or is Comcast being a douchebag again?

 

[Rydian]

Remove the router and use just the modem connected to a desktop, does it still happen?

 

[DeMoN]

Do all your computers (and any other devices) have the same problem at the same time?

 

[the_randomizer]

Do all your computers (and any other devices) have the same problem at the same time?

The two computers (one wired, the other, wireless), yes, they usually experience the issue simultaneously. The third computer (laptop) is owned by a tenant renting out the apartment we own, but whether she experiences the issues or not we don't know; she never tells us. As far as trying to connect without the router, I haven't tried that, and I thought one of the CAT5 cables the connects to the internet goes through that, so if I unplugged the router, wouldn't I lose the connection? That seems to happen when someone accidentally unplugs the surge protector it's connected to. It could also be the fact that I've had these CAT5 cables since we signed up with Comcast back in lat 2004.