SMOS network issue

[evlew]

I am trying to run a single 7950 on a 990FXA-GD80 based miner. 
I can boot into SMOS linux just fine but the network is intermittent. 
Running a simple ping of google.com or 8.8.8.8 shows that the network works fine for a little while and then stops working.  It then resumes working and then stops working.  repeatedly. 

I would love any insight into what could be causing this issue.  Is it likely to be a motherboard firmware issue?