2Wire DSL modem having issues

Hello,

I am having trouble with a 2Wire DSL modem / gateway and am looking for anyone who has experience with them. I recently graduated from college and returned home to find out that my mother has been using DSL service, with no home phone line (and hence no filters). However, the modem has apparently been dropping her from the network constantly, which I can confirm. A call to customer service resulted in an offer to upgrade to U-verse (which is outside our budget), or purchase a new device as this one - which has being doing this from day one - is out of warranty (also outside the budget).

A common screen from the modem's firmware (it's so bad that it is the #1 spot on recent pages) is "DSL failed to connect, message ID NAD-3304, The gateway currently does not detect a DSL signal". AT&T has assured me that the issue is not on their end, although I am disinclined to believe this.

This experience has turned me away from ever purchasing another AT&T product; if they cannot support their equipment without telling me to pay them over $100 for a $10 part or upgrade and spend more money.

Is there a workaround to keep the device from constantly dropping us from the network? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

- Nick