help! stupid networking stuff.

[wingo001 mc duke edu]

This thing is giving me fits...

Just got RH5.0.. install seemed to go fine.. (on a Pentium II, 64MB RAM,
3COM 3c905)...

The problem I'm having is that after I boot linux & log in, my connections
to any sites (via telnet, irc, ftp, http, whatever..) outside of my
152.3.*.* subnet die after about 3 minutes...  Even though the connection
to the "outside" is dead, I can still stroll around 152.3.*.* without any
problems.  I'm not behind a firewall.. and the connection to the "outside"
*does* work (for only about 3 minutes...) :(

I went to http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers/vortex.html and got the
latest 3c59x.c and recompiled the kernel without any problems... still get
the same results. :(

I searched DejaNews for articles containing references to 3COM, 3c905, and
3c59x... found several recommendations to get the latest drivers (did that)
and found a couple that said to configure the network card in DOS w/ the
3COM tools and be sure that it's configured for 10baseT (not 100baseT),
save, and reboot... did that, too.. still have the same problem. :(

I did a netstat after my connection to IRC bombed out, and it showed a
LAST_ACK for that connect until it timed out..

anyone have any ideas? I'm stumped!

Thanks!

-Robert