Hi again Elle,
I googled ADSL and found exactly what you say - for a lot of computer terminology, we go by the British/US terms.
However, the good news only lasted a couple of hours (typical) and I am now facing the same problems as before; hence there is something else wrong and I am going to study things for a couple of days and then call the man back - I am entitled to a two weeks garantee anyway.
It is very possible that in the daytime, there will be less problem than in the evening when everyone is at home and using the net. I know that living in the country means that we have weaker connection - so far anyhow since they are working to improve things.
We had brilliant sun for two hours this morning, with ground frost, then in came the clouds, wind, outbreaks of heavy rain etc... and quite chilly. We are due to remain with this weather until Saturday, when it seems that we are in for brilliant sunshine, temps up to 21/22C. We'll see.