A few years ago, I had a similar problem with the first Realtek driver. It would run for a few minutes, then turn off the cable interface (look at the indicators on your router). The only way to get it turned back on, was to totally power off the machine (pull the cord, and battery). Even windows wouldn't turn it back on. It seemed to work, just like a NIC with no cable attached. However, that doesn't sound like what you describe, and I haven't seen that trick again. See what happens, I guess.