I found that my modem was resetting frequently. My connection was intermittent so I placed a service call.
A tech came to the house and said that there was too much noise on the line. He checked every cable and connection in the house and said that the problem was with the main line going to the trunk.
Another tech showed up and made some adjustments to an amplifier (I guess). now the connection seems to be less intermittent however I am now seeing up to 70% packet loss.