Wireless Router drops signal after a few hours

I bought a WRT54G (v8) about a year ago. Up until a few weeks ago, it worked fine. But now, it completely drops my wireless signal after a few hours. The only way to get it working again is to physically reset the router. Once the wireless signal drops, I can't even access the router's web interface... I type in the IP address and it just comes up with a blank page (doesn't ask me for my username/password). The wired connections work perfectly fine.

Any idea what the problem could be? Anything it could be besides the router crapping out?

Also, although I have a feeling that the problem is with the hardware, any chance that putting DD-WRT could fix this problem? I tried resetting and updating the current firmware on the router, but it didn't fix anything. Any help?

It isn't a problem on the computer's end since none of my computers (or my phone) work once the router drops the signal.

It might be overheating, but is there any way to fix it? It's already in a pretty open area and it shouldn't be that easy to overheat it.

Check for overtheating by playing a fan on it -- if it stays stable with fan try dismantling the unit and drilling holes in the case!!

I had the same problem, but it got increasingly worse to the point where the signal would drop several times an hour. I spend several hours on the phone with Netgear (in India) trying to find a solution.

I replaced it with a more faster Belkin router, the problem was sorted straight away and has not recurred. Save yourself some heartache and replace it if you can.