pppoe connection problem

Hi,

I have a chronic problem with my internet conection. I have adsl since two
years, and lately I have internet problems connecting. At seemingly random
moments, my computer is unable to bring up the conection. It may take from
half an hour to several days (but usually it takes a few hours) before I
get a connection again. I find this error in syslog:

pppoe: Timeout waiting for PADO packets

Personally I suspect my provider's service to be at fault, my provider's
helpdesk however begs to differ and blames my modem. If my modem were
damaged, I would expect it to not work at all, not work at random. What
does this group think about that?

--
Frank Van Damme

It's pretty unlikely that the ISP is at fault. I'd look at the circuit.
You might try asking the telco to check the noise level, but if they
don't think it's excessive (by whatever standards they use), you're
probably going to have to pay to fix the problem. If it's reproducible
enough, one option would be to swap out the modem and see if the
problem persists. Alternatively, you could ask the telco to switch your
circuit to another pair, but that's Russian Roulette unless they agree
that there's a problem.

Another thing you could do if you have more patience is see if the
modem provides line quality statistics. Try to record that on a regular
basis over time, and see if there is a pattern. Some modems also have
line quality self-tests that you can run when there is a problem. Data
like that would make it harder for the telco to ignore the problem.

G