are all dsl modems the same?

[David Banning]

> 
> I have a G-net BB0050, and I'm not happy with it at all. I frequently
> have to power cycle it in order to get my connection working after an
> outage. I think my next modem will be an Alcatel ..

I have the same problem where my connection goes down. I have to reset it.
I have found a solution, however. I connect a serial cable to the modem
and to my freebsd box. Every minute I have cron do a ping to an outside
address in the world. If it won't ping I have the script send a "restart"
command to the modem, which resets the connection. It works fine now.
I haven't had to power down my modem in the last year.