Hi Bitcoin gurus,

This question is more out of curiosity than anything else, how important is a stable "always on" Internet connection when mining for Bitcoins? I'm assuming once synced with the network the hashing occurs on the local data files?

If this is not the case and a constant net connection is required, are your efforts reset if the Internet connection does drop from the network?

Thanks and sorry if these seems stupid questions, I couldn't find my answer through searching.