Re: I did it another way...
I have seen network activity obliterate basic audio usability before, although in that case it was _any_ network activity. I don't remember the details, only that it wasn't a simple "just make sure drivers are up to date" issue - it's all the more annoying considering those two functions are often both implemented using Realtek chips so one would expect them to get along better. I blame it on the modern "everything is software-only" mantra which makes things that need to happen at the same time totally fail to do so whenever the programming is sub-par (which is just to say "practically always").