Internet connection shuts down

I'm running a Dell computer with Windows XP home ed. and I have DSL hooked up to it.

Every now and then the DSL just shuts off. Like, I'll open IE and I get the "page cannot be displayed ". Or, I open Outlook and I get the error because it says there's no internet connection. Basically, the internet stops working.

If I restart the computer then it works again fine. No probelms. I'd say this happens once a week or so. It's just a pain in the butt to restart the computer whenever it happens.

Any ideas what's happening? It's not the DSL provider, because I'm sharing the DSL thorugh a Linksys box with another computer, and it doesn't happen with it. I've tried unplugging the Cat5 and replugging it in when the internet is out. That didn't help. I tried disabling the Local Area Connection and re-enabling it while the internet is out. That also did nothing. Any thoughts?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks!

 

I have an external modem and occasionally I get disconnected. The solution for my system is to disconnect the power source to the modem and shut down the computer. Then reconnect the power to the modem and power up.
Works everytime; annoying but it is very infrequent. Just restarting doesn't work. When having my problem I can click on the icon and it will show packets are being sent but not rec'd?! The ISP has never offerred an explanation, but advises the routine to fix?!!

It an intermittent problem so it is very difficult to isolate, and I learned to live with it.

 

Well, just restarting the computer works for me. I get diconnected maybe once a week. An incovenience. Next time it happens, I'll try powering down the modem and see if that helps. In the meantime, any opther suggestions are welcome!

Thanks.

 

start~run~ipconfig /flushdns

If that helps or doesn't help, post back. And moving this to networking since I think your problem is with that particular piece.