Right - just logged-in today just after 6 pm, and I got another disconnect, though authentication seems to have stopped taking ages.
Also just found some more info on the Pipex site :
"Announcement Updated 05/11/03 at 14:45
Report: A small number of our PIPEX Xtreme ADSL customers using network logins ending in @xtreme2.pipex.net or @xtreme3.pipex.net may be experiencing connection difficulties.
Symptoms: Your computer/router may take rather longer than usual to connect to the Internet and may occasionally produce connection failures.
Actions: This issue is under investigation as a top priority by the PIPEX Network Engineering team. It was escalated to BT for investigation on Tuesday afternoon and, as an additional measure, the manufacturers of our network equipment have also been involved in the investigation."
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So it's not just me, after all, though it's good to see that no-one else, here, is experiencing it.
Someone's just told me, on ISPreview, that the problems are being reported on the ADSLguide Pipex forum, which I'll have a look at in a moment.
I'm sure it'll be sorted soon.
I'll keep you posted!