So I logged the problem with my isp. They said they'd look into it. Today one of their engineers came to my house, walked over to the modem, turned it on and wouldn't you know it started working again. He said
"I was just up at the exchange and I checked it, it was fine.Sometimes they just need a boost from the exchange."
I suppose my question is, what does that mean? Why does my modem just stop working sometimes? Is it just an isp thing I can't do anything about?
The fecker was so smug too...

I dunno how they can "boost" the modem from the exchange, but IMO you should consider looking into buying a router. I used to have connectivity problems, but since I got my router, I havent had a single disconnect.

google the modem mfg + model # for a firmware update

Will do, thanks for the replies.