Win98se internet hangs when NIC enabled

I have 2 PCs both running win98se. They are connected using Network interface cards and Microsoft networking. Both have same problem.
My problem is that when I am surfing the internet, at regular intervals my internet connection stops responding for about a minute and then continues. This typically happen when I change url to another server.
I have currently resolved this by having a separate boot hardware configuration that does not use the NIC. Then I have no problem using the internet.