Intermittant Internet/Outlook connection problems

Ever since I started using Vista Home Premium, I've had intermittant problems
with my connections. Two or three times on the average day, the connection
just doesn't go through. Usually I can make it work by trying again 2 or 3
times. If that fails, I can make it work by exiting IE or Outlook and
immediately starting it again. I know this is not a Verizon DSL problem,
because my wife, running XP, is connected to the same modem I'm hard-wired
to, and she has no problems. I thought it might be a Norton 2007 firewall
problem, but I've done everything they suggested with no lasting improvement.
It's also not an IE7 problem, because on the internet side, I get the same
problems w/ Foxfire. On the internet side the problem may have something to
do w/ problems loading the advertisements wh/ come with Yahoo and other
sites, since I often see these sites trying to load when the connection hangs
up.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
--
SFB