Cannot connect via ppoe

[#1]

Hi,
I've spent the last couple of weeks scouring the net for help regarding this. I would like to use a pppoe connection direct from a server (via openreach modem) to replace the stock router as it hangs far too often.
I initially tried this direct from my win8.1 laptop with no joy, the connection fails stating error 651 with no other explanation. Occasionally it will connect but i receive no inbound packets, cannot ping 8.8.8.8 etc. I've tried this with three different machines 2 x win8.1 and server 2012r2 all different adapters etc. The only common thing between them is the pppoe driver.
Googling Error 651 brings a whole host of articles about vista/7 problems but these are all old pages with no reference to win8 and beyond
Am I missing something really obvious? short of installing ubuntu on a spare machine to try a different pppoe adapter I've run out of ideas.
Does anyone connect using a windows based pppoe connection?
Thanks

[#2]

http://community.plus.net/library/broadband/fibre-help-how-to-set-up-a-pppoe-dialler-in-vistawindows... is the nearest and may help when combined with https://support.zen.co.uk/kb/Knowledgebase/Fibre-Optic-Broadband-Creating-a-PPPoE-connection-in-Wind...

[#3]

Thanks for the links, I had already seen those pages and i had set the connection correctly, but it still wouldn't work.
Just in case anyone else has this issue, I'm posting this from ubuntu connected directly to the modem via pppoe. My issue appears to be with the microsoft pppoe miniport driver.
Has anyone else tried pppoe to plusnet via windows 8.1 / server 2012r2? Can anyone else confirm this is an issue?