My wireless signal is bad up stairs in my house what do i do???

the answer depends a lot on what technology you are using.  for my answer i will assume that you have a g router at 802.11 or wireless g.

 if this is true there are a few things you can try. first upgrade the antenna on the router. this is a simple fix just go the the routers manufacturers web site and order the longer antenna.  they just screw in where the current antennas are.

if you try that and it is still spotty you can use a wireless repeater to boost the routers range. you can get this ware ever you got the router but to keep things simple get the same brand repeater as the router.  by putting the repeater in the right location you will get great coverage thought the house. 

you could skip the antenna but if your house is very large or some of the building material is causing interference you could need both.

oh and one other possibility is other wireless things in your house.  make sure you phones and anything else wireless in your house is "network friendly".  if not you will need to replace them. to find this out just visit the manufacturers web site.

I have had a simillar experience esp the signal fading in and out from Excellent to Poor and then back. There are some suggestions below order ed from cheap to expensive:-

1) Reorient your router, move it to an unobstructed are higher than the desk. Download a program called Network Stumbler and load it on your laptop. Then walk around your house and see what the signal radiation pattern is in the house. It shows you signal strentgh in a graphic.

2) Buy some external antennas for your router that have a 5 ~15 db gain and place them up on the wall and continue option #1 experiment.

3) think about investing in in home wifi extender that plugs into the AC socket near the router and another upstairs near where you use the laptop. There are two types. Ones that use the powerlines to carry the signal and the other just receive and retransmit the signal (repeaters)

4) Replace your router with a more current version that support 802.11 n protocol. The n protocol router from Netgear that i bought was amzinging more effective than my old Linksys 802.11g router.

5) route a cat 5 cable up the stairs from your router (cheap but ugly)

reorienting the router is a good idea.  also the i have seen a lot of problems with netgear (there signal is weak) dew to having only 1 antenna. but as for the apt. where you could get a signal in the parking lot.  i would bet that you had windows looking over the parking lot which helps a lot.  you have no windows showing the second floor i assume.  i would recommend an upgrade try a linksys as i have found them the easiest to work with.  be careful with the new wireless n as most likely you will need to ad a new card to your laptop to us it.  if you have the money go for it! it is a great new technology.  but if you don't go with g and get a more reliable router again linksys is the easiest to work with but there are others that work very well.  look for 2 antennas.

"...router is under a shelf on my desk do you think I should move it to a more open place like on top of the shelf???"

Would it hurt to try? 

You can try moving the router to a better location so that it will reach further, and you can also buy a new router with a stronger signal. That will probably solve the problem.

Also, do you have a password access to your internet connection? If not, maybe someone's using your internet connection, and that can slow down and weaken your connection.

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My advice is to maybe move the router to a less obstructed area of the room if you can or to buy a better, more powerful one.