Question

We have recently run into an issue where the firewire from my laptop loses connectivity during performances and we cannot re-establish. I have 2 laptops that we have used successfully for a couple of years, but they both have experienced this issue, one running Windows 7 Pro the other Windows 10 Pro. The Universal Controller is the current version and it reports the firmware is up to date. It does not appear to matter which firewire port we are plugged into. 
My music store rep says I should replace the laptops with a Macbook. I don't want to spend the money for that unless I know for sure it will resolve the issue.

Answer 1

The first thing to try is replace the firewire cables themselves with new ones. In some cases this is all that is needed, the cable connector may lose it's grip over time of many mating cycles. Try that first before doing anything else. 

The next thing to look at is the 1394 chipset on your computers. If you've always had this issue, it may because the 1394 chipset was of a lower quality than some of it's competitors. VIA for example did not perform as well as a Texas Instruments chipset, the symptoms you're describing are synonymous with inferior 1394 chipsets. Check our 1394 compatibility list for more information.