How can I get better wireless net reception?

I have a recently purchased pwrbook 15'' with airport extreme wireless card. I live on a college campus and when at work, and some other places, the signal gets weak. It is very unreliable and sporadic; however, others with weaker and older computers with wireless 802.11b cards are getting solid reception, enough to browse the net regularly and send files! Is there any way to stabilize my wireless reception/increase it, or is it just that powerbooks get weak reception....
Anyone?

i would check the airport card connections.

yeah, the range on my 17" is probably double that of any laptop I've gotten a chance to compare it with.

try reseating your airport card