Why is my internet activity acting weird?

[ranger]

Sometimes it seems that my computer generates unwanted internet activity. I know this becuase I can see the activity light on my router blinking. This happens at irregular intervals. And when it happens, my internet connection stops working. I would either have to unplug my internet cable or remove and insert my Network Card (I have a laptop so I just use the "eject hardware" icon for this) to get my connection working again. Then my connection would be good for sometime then the same thing keeps occurring. Sometimes in the middle of a download, my connection would fail causing me to restart my download.

I ran a virus scan and spyware checker, but it found nothing. I don't think its a problem with my network card because my laptop has two operating systems (Winxp and fedora). The connection works just fine under fedora.

Please Help

--thank you.

 

[russ_watters]

You could try a software firewall - it'll tell you exactly what is using the connection. Also, bring up a command prompt and type "netstat".

 

[ranger]

WHen I try netstat, I see nothing relevant. I'm yet to try a firewall. I never had one because I'm thinking my router is enough.