Weeeee! Zoooom!
Pump was at fault. to connect Linux to NTL Broadband you need the following:
DHClient or DHClient3 (pref the latter), NOT pump. CONFIG_PACKET=Y and CONFIG_FILTER=y in your kernel.
I put this in the Tips,Tricks and Workarounds in the Wiki.
That's it. It's simple enough, once you've been told. It was the kernel level stuff that stumped me! ;)
Ricardo
(Weeeeeeeeee! Zooooom! 600kbps!)