Thank you both for your informative posts, I appreciate the time you have taken to explain in detail.
I do run Win XP on a 3.2 Ghz 512 mb RAM PC connected through a D Link wireless router which is on a LAN cable to the main PC.
All has been well with Pipex for some years until last week and I just find it frustrating that I have to waste my life hanging on the telephone to talk to tech support!