Hi again.....
OK, got v7alpha26 installed and all seems ok, and have attached to the local network and the adsl router. Getting link lights on both, and sme box v5.6 is happily connecting. Can't seem to get out tho. Have checked that my ip address isn't being blocked, and getting activity on the router when i try to ping say google.co.uk, but no joy.
What i'm asking is what is the best method for troubleshooting this - i'm not overly familiar with linux, so please help!!!