Packet Loss

I'm experiencing a lot of packet loss on my DSL connection. My host says they'll have to send out a linesman to figure out the problem and that I'm gonna have to pay for it if the problem is on my end.

I really dont wanna have to pay for this unless there is no other way around it.

Does anyone know anything about packet loss? I googled it and read up on it...but I'm still in the dark on the matter. What usually causes it?

I had that problem with my DSL one month a looong time ago, and it was their end, it took 7 to 8 customer service calls before they saw that it was their network server that has all the "neighboring" connections on a card and the whole section was down.

I would stay connected for about 30 minutes and disconnect for about an hour, then connect again for 5 minutes, disconnect again, it was fucking annoying.