I just wanted to post this in case others have had this issue, and to possibly alert the Parallels team to a potential bug somewhere. I have run Windows 7 SP1 x64 for probably 2 years or so under various versions of Parallels, largely without issue. During this entire time I have simply used the "Shared Network" option for my network adapter type, which I believe is the default and always worked to the best of my knowledge. However, recently I updated Parallels to Build 8.0.18494 (Revision 886912; June 17, 2013) and technically my precise guest Windows 7 version is currently at "6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601". Around the time of this Parallels update, or about 2 - 3 weeks ago when I downloaded it, as I recall, I started to notice that my network connection would drop intermittently: roughly at 20 to 30 minute intervals. The drop was brief but noticeable if I was running any Windows game that required continuous Internet connectivity, as it would drop me completely out of the online game. I have since switch to Bridged Network mode, and so far this does appear to have resolved my problem. Certainly there could be some other issue at play here (such as some other software on the Mac host side that is causing some sort of intermittent conflict); however it does seem suspicious to me that the problem seems in my mind to correlate so closely with the download & installation of a recent Parallels update. Again, I simply hope this post helps others to know about using Bridged Network mode as an optional workaround, and to alert Parallels staff to a potential issue with the Shared Network mode.
You're not alone here. I am also having difficulty with the latest version of Parallels and shared networking in my Boot Camp Windows 7 x64 installation. Yesterday I kept losing my Lync connections and was popping in and out of the conference call. Switching to Bridged mode seems to have helped but I'm still investigation. Never had this problem before, or at least not for as far as I can remember.
