Every kernel version that is still maintained seems to be affected by network connection drops including LTS version. So once you upgrade there is nowhere to fall back. My laptop has this network instability problem. That’s why I ignored kernel packages in my desktop.
Added
IgnorePkg = linux616 linux616-headers
to /etc/pacman.conf for now until fixed kernel versions are out.
6.16.1 is reported to be last stable kernel.