Asus DSL-N55U and DSL-N66U

[#1]

Just thought I'd share my experiences here in case anyone else has had similar problems.
My Netgear DGN3500 was dropping connections and failing to repond through the web interface since upgrading to ADSL2+ so I thought I'd replace it with a new shiny Asus router to take advantage of some of the traffic control features.
Splashed out on a DSL-N66U and got it home to find that it simply would not sync with the ADSL.  Spent some time on the phone to plusnet and they couldn't find anyting wrong with my settings so I swapped it back to the DGN3500 which synced straight away.  That went back to the shop and was replaced with a new router...
This time, it was a DSL-N55U (I figured the older model might have had the kinks worked out by now).  Sure enough, it synced straightaway but this router simply wouldn't authenticate in any kind of reliable way.  I upgraded to the latest firmware (3.0.0.4.374_1397), did several hard resets and used the wizards, but it would frequently lose the authentication after changing some settings and would then refuse to log on (or even try to log on according to the logs) barring a factory reset.  That one is going back to the shops soon and has been replaced with...
My trust old Netgear DG834Gv4!  Sure, it's only 100MB LAN and doesn't have really ANYTHING in the way of features, but it seems pretty solid and is holding a decent sync speed.

[#2]

i have a DSL-N66U on a very long line (attn 77 ADSL2) and it syncs fine on plusnet..

[#3]

Interesting, maybe my 66u was totally duff then as I'm currently on 34db attn and it just would not sync for love nor money.
With identical settings the 55u would sync but had the intermittent auth problem while the DG834Gv4 has been rock-solid since plugging in.

[#4]

I think the DG834 is just an exceptionally stable router.  I have the DG834PN and it can go for months - literally - without dropping a connection.  I bought it back in 2005 (or maybe 2006) and it's proved solid and reliable.  No bells and whistles but a very stable connection.  Much better through walls than others I've used, too.  I packed it away in favour of the free PN one when I joined last year but that was awful and I soon switched back.  Not really looked back since.
Having said that, I noticed over Christmas that I was getting some variable speeds and the router hung once.  I'm hoping it's not about to die on me because it's been fantastic so far