I have had about 12 months of difficulty getting a totally reliable connection since I was switched to the ADSL Max service (up to 8Mbits/sec).

In that time I found out that the crackly phone that had crackled for years was seriously reducing the speed of my connection as the interference, on occasion, was so severe it would reduce the speed to 100Kbits/sec, which the exchange would not reset until 24 hours later.

Also, the connectors that are sold for DIY extensions are not without their problems, and the reason why you have the option of loading any version of the router's firmware that has been issued in the past as well as the most recent version, is that sometimes the older version is more stable for your connection than the most recent version.

Fortunately I have experience of electrical fault finding and eventually found a workable solution to overcome the intermittent problems I had. However, even for me it has not been easy. BT was adamant that the line was satisfactory and, if I were to book a visit, I would be charged £180 pounds if they felt that the problem lay at my end.

I do not see how a competent telecoms technician could take longer than half an hour in such a visit and this charge is in excess of its actual cost. For many users, a visit from BT may be their only option as many problems are beyond the competency of the average user.

Neil Hardy