Is this a modem/router/other problem?

[craigthedeac]

My setup has a cable connection running through a Motorola modem to my Linksys router. Both are probably 2-3 years old, if that's relevant. There is a direct connection between the router and my desktop. I connect on my laptop through the wireless connection.

Randomly I will lose connectivity, which is obviously problematic for a poker player. I've called Charter (my cable company) and they say that my connection should be fine ("great"). The guy said that my modem hadn't lost a connection in a few days, which was bogus because I was disconnected while calling him. When I lose a connection, it usually re-establishes itself within a few minutes, but obviously I don't want this to happen in the first place.

This lead him to believe that my router was the problem, however, when I told him that some of the lights were off on my cable modem, he seemed surprised. For what it's worth, my laptop sometimes loses connectivity even while the modem's lights are all on (it will sometimes say "connected" but nothing will work).

So he ended up saying I needed to replace my cable modem if I was losing lights, but he seemed to think that the problem was my router.

So is it a problem with the modem/router or is it possibly on their end? I don't want to buy new stuff if I don't need to.

Also, if I need something new, what brand/model would you recommend?

Thanks in advance and sorry if I left out anything important, I'm not too familiar with this stuff.