that the computer in question is hooked up to a usb type (Netgear) network and not hooked up directly to a modem.
So your PC in question has a Netgear USB and the connection drops sometimes.
But the PC used with a cable directly to the modem works. You must mean a wireless router modem combo. A simple modem has only one connection, as far as I know.
Yes, wireless connections, often called Wi-Fi, can and do drop out. The most common type is the 802.11g standard. This standard was never intended to be foolproof. You may have to change it to another channel to avoid interference.
You could try another adapter instead of the one you have now. They are now super cheap. You would expect a new adapter to be better, but that is not always the case. Maybe you could borrow an adpater from a friend and see if that helps.
The maximum speed of any DSL is seldom more than 3 M bps. So even if the adapter only does 11 M bps, it should not drop the connection. Wireless is faster than DSL.
Just try another adapter. Install the right drivers.