pretty sure thats just the downfall of wifi

No, there is definitely something wrong, I never used to have this problem. I tried Googling the issue, and have spent a couple hours reading different forums that essentially said certain Intel chips don't work well with Windows 8. I was just wondering if someone else had already encountered this same issue, because as far as I can tell it's fairly widespread.

How close are you to your modem?

turn off the option to constantly find networks.

A couple things could be causing the problem..

Any new furniture or anything recently? Something could be obstructing the signal.

Your wifi card could be failing. Is it just yours or everyone's wifi in the house having thw problem?

Easiest fix would be to reset your router and also change the frequency it's running. Your routers firewall / settings (192.168.0.1) usually in your browser will take you to it, depending on the router. Look through there and change the frequency and or the mode it's transmitting St.

It is only my wifi that has this problem, and I'm about 60 ft from the router. There are very little obstructions between me and the router. I have roaming aggressiveness set to lowest to avoid switching/finding networks.

If you're sure it's a problem specific to your laptop's Intel wifi adapter pick up a USB wifi adapter for use at home.

im not the OP but im on wifi as well. how can i do this?

Step 1:
Unplug your laptop from the wall

Step 2:
Stand up

Step 3:
Pick up your laptop

Step 4:
Walk in the direction of your wifi router

Step 5:
Place laptop on surface

Step 6:
Plug laptop into the wall

Step 7:
Sit down

Did you update the driver's via Intel's website, Lenovo's or Windows Update?
I would strongly encourage updating via Intel's website.

Intel Centrino chipset's in particular frequently have updates to address network performance and compatibility issues.

It would definitely also be worth checking into your router's firmware. Many SOHO network routers provide firmware updates to address network compatibility and performance issues, among other things.

I updated drivers from Intel's website, it seems to have helped the problem, but I still ping spike to about 300 every five minutes.

Change router from Automatic to a numeric channel value.
Ideally you want a channel that isn't populated in your locale. You can use netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid via command prompt on windows to determine what channel networks in your area are using. Then you can configure your router to use a channel not in use.

Edit: inSSIDer is a great application you can use to see this visually. V3.2.1

You should also bare in mind that 2.4GHz networks have channel overlap. Without getting into specifics it's most common and successful to use channel 1 or 11. Especially if any of the other routers in your area have their channel set to automatic.

been experiencing this recently as well after my ethernet cable broke. wireless was fine for a week then suddenly every 5-20 minutes my ping spikes crazy, game sits paused, and everyone sounds like robots in mumble.

I solved the problem with a 100 foot long ethernet cord, thanks for the help though, I'll look into that for the future Cobra.

lol I was having the same problems but with different specs and a 100ft ethernet cable fixed all of my problems.

Well, sort of. For some ridiculous reason, if I'm wired only, I get normal download speeds but my upload is less than 1 instead of the ~12 it should be. If I have wifi enabled and in use while being connected through a wired connection, my download and upload speeds are normal. If I'm on wifi only, my upload is pretty much normal but my download suffers a little bit.

modern day black magic

Your internet fairy is probably on crack Kirby, she isn't quite sure where she should be delivering her packets to.