You seem to be saying it's the Classmate wireless that's at fault.
It could be as simple as a wireless conflict with other devices in the area using the same band/channel as the Classmate.
Is your programming laptop wireless using the same band and channels as the Classmate wireless?
You can test that theory using another home router.
- Ethernet cord from the Classmate to the router
- Common SSID and security on the router, and DLink switched to bridge mode