While preparing a new OSBo SD card image, I came across this website which describes a method to compile the RTL8192 driver:
http://gencarelle.com/blog/2013/07/19/problems-with-rtl8188cus/
I gave it a try and it seems to work much better than the default driver provided by the system. I followed the instructions and compiled it under kernel 3.8.13-bone56. The custom driver is now integrated into the new OSBo pre-configured SD card image, available for download at:
http://raysfiles.com/osbo/osbo2.zip
Will see from user feedback whether this indeed works more reliably or not.