Late 2008 Macbook Pro WIFI problems

Hi Guys - got a 3 week old Macbook pro - gave my old Acer to the dog - but will now have to try and get it back because I'm having all sorts of problems with the WIFI connection - sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't - there doesn't seem to be any reason for it failing - my Netgear router is working fine (I've built a Multimedia network with 8 of these Netgear routers so I know when they are working correctly) - I've tried all the usual things - switching off, renewing the IP address, typing a manual IP address, etc etc - nothing works - then he-presto - every thing's back again - one thing I have noticed is that even when you are connected to your router and have a good strong connection the Airport device seems to be still scanning for routers - is this because the signal level has dropped, or is it something built into the firmware. Once locked on does the system know that this is the station you want to stay locked onto even though there maybe a stronger signal close by, even on the same channel

Obviously there is a serious problem with the system as so many people have highlighted, I just want to keep the discussion going and hopefully Apple will get their act together - this is my first Mac - not a good experience for a convert, although every thing else is fine - Now to the dog, don't think this is going to be easy as he's found the doggytube website