Cursed hardware?

peter

I'm using talktalk ISP to connect on two different computers at two
different locations (home and work). Same modems and same installation
disks. At home the connection is terrible - very slow (OK this might
just be a bad location), but the line keeps dropping. Sometimes every
two/three minutes and it's very annoying. At work the connection is
fast (about 5.5mbs) and the connection never drops.

I thought that there might be a problem with the home modem, so I took
the one from work and tried it at home. It didn't so I assume there is
something else wrong.

By accident I took the home modem to work and plugged it in. I
realised my mistake when my PC said "new hardware detected" (don't
forget both PCs are using the same modem) and unsuccessfully tried to
install it. I realised my mistake and swapped the modems back, but the
damage seems to have been done. The work connection became terrible
and I had to completely reinstall the (original) modem, It works but
the connection is terribe - fast, but the connection drops all the
time.

If I'd swapped installation disks I'd think one disk had a virus - but
the only thing that moved was the modem.

Can a piece of hardware have a virus? Any ideas?

Peter