Hello, if I make a big ftp the network stop, I must do the command /etc/init.d/network restart. On the website : http://www.scyld.com/network/rtl8139.html, this bug had been solve. Bye.
There is a new rtl8139 driver (8139too) that has been tested in 2.4 and is backported to 2.2. Jeff Garzik is maintaining this driver and it is included in 2.2.18. This driver solves a lot (but not all) of the problems this card causes. Several versions of rtl8139 still have trouble when using a hub (as opposed to a switch or a direct connection via a cross-cable), but that seems to be a hardware issue and only results in 1 or 2 seconds of no-network. It might very well be possible to use this driver with the stock 2.2.16-22 kernel, I'll look into that tomorrow if you want.