Paul,
I've been able to maintain a connection to an AP with a strong signal indefinitely with Xiegu firmware.? If you're using DHCP, there is a periodic refresh of the 'lease' with time dependent on router (typically) settings.
If the connection is dropping on a predictable schedule, I'd suspect the router is unhappy with it for some reason.? Try a static IP address if you're using DHCP and see if that makes any difference.
73,
? Dan
? N7SHM