What's up with the weak signal strength?

I just purchased a macbook yesterday and every now and then I get good signal strength, but lately, I only get one bar, if that and the internet slows to an absolute CRAWL. I have a desktop PC as well that ALWAYS maintains a 100% signal strength and pages load lightning fast on it, so obviously it's an issue with my macbook. What I don't get is that I'm sitting RIGHT next to my wireless router and I only have two bars...

A quick search on apple.com didn't seem to reveal much in terms of a solution or diagnostics...

Anyone have any clues??

First of all, sometimes you can be too close to your router with wireless. But other than that, you should see if your router and your Macbook both have the newest firmware available. Other than that, I don't know what to say.

There was an update earlier today.

The latest wifi update killed my connection- visit macfixit.com for a workaround.

Yeah, not sure here either. I just got my Macbook last week and with my linksys router (configured as a WAP) and the most recent Airport update with it sitting about 2 feet from it I get full bar signal. My wife's Blackbook doesn't have a problem anywhere in the apartment (though I haven't checked the signal strength, mostly because I haven't had to.)

One thing I've noticed about the Macbook is that it detects many more wireless networks than my employer supplied Dell even if they are secured. Perhaps there is something wrong that you should take it to the Apple store to have them fix.

What's really strange is that I can connect to my neighbor's unencrypted networks without an issue and the signal is nearly 100%. As soon as I switch to my network, the signal drops to nothing and I'm stuck in the mud.

I have all the latest updates and even updated my router's firmware last night, all to no avail.

I guess I'll try to call tech support tonight but I'm already counting on them not being much help since I use a linksys router. We shall see...