Hi All, 
Contacted Netconnect Tech Support - guess what he told me - LSASS.exe is causing the problem and should be disabled.  
Also, he told me delete all temp files and "ALL WINDOWS SETTINGS" ?????? When I asked him how that was supposed to be done - he backed off. I wonder if these guys thinks the customers are absolutely ignorant. 
Anyway, 
How do you ping the server? Manually? that is painful! 
Also, whever I restart the system after the connection hangs - I get a message saying that "ping.exe  - invoked by venturi could not start" ! 
I don't know what's happening 
Regards, 
Anirudh