Hello:

I am running 12.10 LTS and have the same/similar problem.

Connects at boot, remaining strong and stable but after a while, the connection will drop and the system will try to connect again.

This does not happen and after a while, although configured to connect automatically, the pop-up asking to connect (fields are not blank) comes up but connection does not happen and the pop-up comes up once again after a while.

Unplugging and replugging the USB dongle has the effect of freezing the system which requires a hard reset as ctrl-alt-del will not do. Another symptom when system freezes is that kb leds flash on and off repeatedly.    

***

-- lsusb (snip)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0cf3:7015 Atheros Communications, Inc. TP-Link TL-WN821N v3 802.11n [Atheros AR7010+AR9287]

***

Curiously enough, the hardware data on the label is 'TL-WN822N V2', which apparently has a different chipset.
I have seen this reported elsewhere.

-- 

modinfo ath9k_usb
ERROR: modinfo: could not find module ath9k_usb

modinfo ath9k_ath
ERROR: modinfo: could not find module ath9k_ath

modinfo ath9k

filename:         /lib/modules/3.2.0-53-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/ath9k.ko
license:            Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
author:            Atheros Communications
srcversion:      426E3BAA91A2633D95E6FD2
alias:          platform:ar934x_wmac
alias:          platform:ar933x_wmac
alias:          platform:ath9k
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000037sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000034sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000033sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000032sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000030sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Esv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Dsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Csv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Bsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000029sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000027sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000024sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000023sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends:  ath9k_hw,ath9k_common,mac80211,cfg80211,ath
intree:      Y
vermagic: 3.2.0-53-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 686 
parm:        debug:Debugging mask (uint)
parm:        nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption (int)
parm:        blink:Enable LED blink on activity (int)
parm:        btcoex_enable:Enable wifi-BT coexistence (int)

***

iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan1     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"XXXXXX"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 1C:AF:F7:17:2A:4C   
          Bit Rate=65 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=49/70  Signal level=-61 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
 -         Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:1   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.20 days)

***

I see this bug was confirmed as being of high imprtance almost year ago (in ~20 days).

Are there any news as to what progress has been made, if any?
After all, it does seem to be a kernel issue.

Thanks in advance,

CIV