jdaltonnal,
Not sure what might be happening, also not sure if NI goes into a 'Save or 'Under Contruction' mode at times, but 99% of the time it seems to work for me.
Are you at risk for any 'local' network traffic problems?
Also, I've attached a link that goes directly to the "Developer Exchange Feedback' group - it might be a more direct way to find resolve for connectivity issues.
http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RPAGEID=8&RFORMNUMBER=2&RHIDETAG=TRUE&UCATEGORY_0=_11&UCATEGORY_S=0
Good luck with it,
Doug