Network Problems

Hi all, I use a Sony Vaio VGN-B100GP and am running Windows XP Pro SP3 on it. Lately my internet connection seems to hang. The icon in systray stops blinking and I have to 'Disable' it and 'Enable' it back again. I can usually stay online for a couple minutes at a time, sometimes hours (like right now) before it hangs again. The problem is it will only get enabled a couple times before it says 'Connection Failed' at which point I have to restart my PC. I'm on a broadband connection, wired. Any suggestions? Oh, yes, one more thing. I recently updated the driver that I downloaded off the Sony Vaio support site. No improvement. But that driver was from 2004 so I downloaded another one off Intel's website but am unable to install that because it says I have to uninstall the previous one but I'm somewhat skeptical about doing that. I only recently recovered my laptop back to factory settings (less than a week ago) using the recovery CD so I know it's probably not a software problem. I only recently got broadband, I had ADSL up until a month ago and I had similar problems back then too, although not to this extent. Help!!!

Hi HopeNoMore. Welcome to WhatTheTech. If the problem only exists on this computer, and all other computers do not have a problem with your internet connection, AND this is a fresh load than there are two things to consider. One, do what the Intel driver says and attempt to uninstall the old and install the new. See if this helps. If not, there is a strong chance you are having some type of hardware problem. This means replacing the wireless card, or using an external USB adapter.