Random Disconnecting

Details:
Ever since the maintenance from March 7th, I have been experiencing random disconnections (approximately 8-10 times). The incidents are very random, occuring in Abyssea (La Theine) and Windurst Walls so far.

Steps:
Everything but my character would "freeze".
"Network" would begin to slowly go down to 0%.
Black screen loaded with a text box in the center stating that the connection had been lost. (I don't recall the exact wording).
Attempted to log back in immediately after the game crash by restarting the game.
The described incident above would then happen again anywhere from 5 minutes, to sometimes 1 hour later.
After restarting both cable modem and router, made another attempt to log back in to the game but the result was the same.
I have also clicked on the "Check Files" option for FFXI, and "Repaired All Files".

Date & Time: March 7th - March 9th, 2011
Frequency: Often (8-10 times). I have not been able to play for more than 2hrs without experiencing this problem.
Platform: PC
PC Manufacturer & Model Number: Homebuilt Computer
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS
ISP: Sonic.net
Type of Internet Connection: DSL

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Zerayla,

We’re sorry for the problems you are experiencing while trying to log into the game. At this point in time, we’re not undergoing any scheduled or emergency world maintenance that would cause the problems you are experiencing. So the cause is going to be more localized for you.

You mentioned that you use a router in your network setup. When using a router, it’s important to configure that router so that it does not block any of the ports that PlayOnline and FINAL FANTASY XI use to communicate with our servers. Blocking one or more of these ports can lead to problems like the one you describe.

Please make sure that your router is configured to allow both incoming and outgoing access on the following ports. For more instructions on how to do so, please refer to the instruction manual for your router, or the information provided by your Internet Service Provider.

Port numbers that may be used by the PlayOnline server group:
- TCP: 25, 80, 110, 443 and 50000 – 65535
- UDP: 50000 – 65535