Riddle me this - pipex + dlink

[tezmo]

just recently, I have been unable to do anything with my connection (http downloads stall/ftp transactions dont even start/nntp stutters) - it persistently drops at the application level every 10 seconds or so (however the connection itself stays alive), such that I get the likes of:

Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Request timed out.
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Request timed out.
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=245ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=222ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Request timed out.
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=98ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=114
Reply from 81.86.243.28: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=114
Request timed out.

and so on ad infinitum - I had initially put this down to some variant on the nachi worm, having experienced similar before, but have since become aware that it behaves this way even when there are no machines connected to the router - which is a dlink di624 connected to a dsl300g+ modem - im at a loss - any great ideas?

[tezmo]

have since removed the router from the equation completely - now its just a modem->pc, with exactly the same results - what gets me is the consistency of the behaviour - always exactly 8 succesful pings, and always the 9th one that times out...any more for any more?