Okay, BT line installed (after a little bit of work as they discovered it had been physically unplugged somewhere after 6 or more years of non-use. Not sure if that will mean I get charged the £75 in the end, but they've already put £75 down on the contract details despite there being a BT socket in existence).
However the number port seems to be dragging. I've got an outbound dial-tone but no inbound calls yet as the port is still "in the queue". The BT guy said it may take a while, but should be within the same day. The line was done this morning and still no sign of the number being ported across yet.
Update: Number port has gone through now. So far so good
Haven't decided on a modem yet though. I need one that works well with most routers, and I'm reading bad things about some of the D-Links. Does anyone use Freesco or any other linux router together with an ADSL modem, and what modem do you use?