Hi all! I'm begging for your tips on this problem.

About 3 weeks ago I was ONLINE and my INTERNET connection suddenly went out. The next morning it came back on, only to go out 10 minutes later. What seems to be happening is the internet will be on sometimes for hours others for minutes before it goes out and says, "local area connection not connected." The only way I can get my internet to come back on is by putting the computer in stand by mode and hitting the power button to restart it. I've called the ISP and they've come out, I've called Microsoft, and HP but still no one seems to know the problem. I even did a system restore on the computer back to it's original factory settings but it still didn't resolve the issue. Do you think it could be the network card on the computer? I'm at a loss for ideas and I haven't even had my PC for a year YET. Any advice or help, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks! Does your computer connect to the internet through a router? If so are there any other computers that experience similar symptoms?

If it's the only computer, going through a modem, which I assume STAYS on when this occurs (check the lights), then yes I'd say it's probably a hardware based issue.

Have you tried updating or ROLLING back drivers? On the same line; any thing you think you may have done that caused this behavior?No, I have DSL. Free internet service from my apartment complex. There is an ethernet cord plugged in from my computer to the wall jack. The internet also seems to go out sometimes when I go to certain sites, i.e. myspace, youtube, facebook, yahoo. I don't know why...sometimes it stays on other times it completely drops. It seems like if I'm playing a video on youtube or listening to music on a page, it makes the connection slow down and that's when the internet stops responding and drops.Quote

Free internet service from my apartment complex