1.02 was a pretty old release and there have been many bug fixes since then. Definitely grab 1.03 which should be rock stable on either USB or Ethernet. You can even walk on the wild side and give 2.0b7 a try if you like. Note that you need to upgrade both Emplode and the player software to the same version (two separate downloads), and do the upgrades in the order of Emplode then Player. (More upgrade details are in the FAQ.)

If 1.03 isn't rock stable, then it might be the 10/100 switch. The player's ethernet port is 10-only, and some people have reported that their 10/100 devices need to be forced down to 10 in order for everything to work perfectly. (More ethernet details are in the FAQ.)