Can I replace or upgrade my wireless internet hardware on my laptop?

I have had nothing but trouble with my wireless internet hardware for my Samsung R530 laptop. It works on and off but has poor signal reception. I have upgraded all the drivers, fiddled around with fixes from tech sites but have come to conclusion that the Atheros AR925 wireless network adapter is just crap. Can I replace or upgrade it? If so what should I buy and will it be easy to do myself? I have enough knowledge to open up the laptop and replace the keyboard as I had to do recently. Any advice is most welcome.