Internet connection stops working

My internet connection sometimes stops and I have to restart to get it back. Is there something I can do without having to restart.

Also when I tell it to shutdown it doesn't always obey and so I have to type halt -n in a terminal. Only a minor annoyance but would like to know what's wrong.
Andy

What kind of internet conection do you have?

dylunio

I have a tiscali broadband connection with a speedtouch usb modem