Linuxathome.net

Hi my first post here , im'e a newbie using mandrake8.2 trying to cross over from windows. my problem is trying to setup adsl with bigpond , I have an Alcatel 4 port router/modem duel booting win & linux.Iv'e tried seting up conection using roaring penguin's pppoe software with no luck it keep's droping out on conection and was wondering why all the post's on a few sites i visited say dont use DHCP . Thats the protocol both window's box's are using and when i tried it with mandrake i got a conection dloaded updates with no drop. any help apreciated thanks.