Another router is the same model?
Try to disable UPnP(Forwarding---UPnP).

M Diamond wrote

Another router is the same model?
Try to disable UPnP(Forwarding---UPnP).

No different model. Tried disabling UPnP but still the same. Even when i am doing a test at speedtest.net i can see towards the end the download drops close to 0 but its not enough to drop the line.

According to excerpt of your log, we can see internet connection drops but nothing else.
Can you provide the complete log? Besides, provide screenshot of Status---WAN page.

M Diamond wrote

According to excerpt of your log, we can see internet connection drops but nothing else.
Can you provide the complete log? Besides, provide screenshot of Status---WAN page.

Ok i cleared the logs and tried to replicate the problem again. Here is the complete log of what happens in the process

[code]

1	2015-06-15 21:57:26	DHCPD	Notice	Recv INFORM from **MY MAC ADDRESS**
2	2015-06-15 21:57:26	SYSTEM	Notice	set time status to 2 [inside]
3	2015-06-15 21:57:23	SYSTEM	Notice	set time status to 1 [inside]
4	2015-06-15 21:57:23	SYSTEM	Notice	set time status to 1 [outside]
5	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [IPCP ConfAck id=0x2 MY-IP>
6	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [IPCP ConfReq id=0x2 MY-IP>
7	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [IPCP ConfNak id=0x1 MY-IP>
8	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [IPCP ConfAck id=0x1 ] <-gateway at the time
9	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [IPCP ConfReq id=0x1 ] <-gateway at the time
10	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [IPCP ConfReq id=0x1 ]
11	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [PAP AuthAck id=0x1 ""]
12	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [LCP EchoRep id=0x0 magic=0x5a946859]
13	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [PAP AuthReq id=0x1 user="*****" password=]
14	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [LCP EchoReq id=0x0 magic=0xd5a79665]
15	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [LCP ConfAck id=0x1 ]
16	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [LCP ConfAck id=0x1 ]
17	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 ]
18	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 ]
19	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Notice	ppp0 exit discovery.
20	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [PADS SessionID(0x237e)]
21	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [PADR Host-Uniq(0x00000592)]
22	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [PADO]
23	2015-06-15 21:57:23	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [PADI Host-Uniq(0x00000592)]
24	2015-06-15 21:57:22	PPP	Error	ppp0
25	2015-06-15 21:57:22	PPP	Error	ppp0 User request
26	2015-06-15 21:57:18	PPP	Information	ppp0 sent [LCP TermAck id=0x2]
27	2015-06-15 21:57:18	PPP	Warning	ppp0 LCP down
28	2015-06-15 21:57:18	PPP	Error	ppp0 LCP down
29	2015-06-15 21:57:18	PPP	Information	ppp0 rcvd [LCP TermReq id=0x2]
30	2015-06-15 21:54:36	DHCPD	Notice	Recv INFORM from **MY MAC ADDRESS**
31	2015-06-15 21:51:29	HTTPD	Notice	Clear log.

[/code]

I hid my mac/ip address and username (bold letters). If you are wondering what happens the rest of the day its always the DHCPD Notice and the System Notice for the time that happen. Nothing else.

Weird part is that i have tested 3 different routers including this tp-link and the tp-link one and the 2nd router both displayed connections at 18000+ with 17.6 attenuation while the 3rd one had around 15800 with 12.8 attenuation.
The thing is a technician that has come to my house has confirmed that my distance from the dslam is around 870m and my speeds are indeed around 15800 so i don't know why 2 of the 3 routers are showing false information about the line. The 3rd router with the correct info though performed less with downloads at around 1.5mb/s while the tp-link and the 2nd one download at 2.07mb/s. The tp-link one though is the only one that has the disconnect problems.

Here is also my status and wan page.
If you are wondering about the system uptime, i had reboot the router at that time and even when having it open for days there are no errors in the packets.

Status page:
http://postimg.org/image/esno4t60d/full/

Wan page:
http://postimg.org/image/750jck8wn/full/

The screenshot of status page is the one when downloading at max speeds?
Try to configure bandwidth control to see if your TD-W8980 will work properly.
I suggest you submit a ticket here.
http://ticket.tp-link.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

M Diamond wrote

The screenshot of status page is the one when downloading at max speeds?
Try to configure bandwidth control to see if your TD-W8980 will work properly.
I suggest you submit a ticket here.
http://ticket.tp-link.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

I've sent the ticket and i'll wait and see what happens. As for the status page if you are wondering if there are any fluctuations in the SNR while i am downloading, there aren't any so i don't know why this happens.

Update it here if there is any progress. :)

I've been talking with the tp-link support all this time and well we figured out that when connecting to the internet via windows (dial-up ppoe connection) and deleting the ppoe connection from the router, it works absolutely fine. I download at max speeds without an issue and the internet doesn't feel slow at all. This though creates other issues like i can't connect any other device to the router and still have internet. No smartphones through wi-fi and no x-box.

I did some tests at a site that measures bufferbloat and while connecting through the router (ppoe connection on router) the lag increase was tremendous which expains the slow response of the internet and possibly the disconnections as well. While testing with the ppoe connection from Windows the lag increase was minimal and didn't change by much. This leads to the conclusion that either the router is faulty or has really bad buffer management or QoS. There are some free open source firmwares out there that have smart queue management but overwriting the router firmware is a big deal and frankly i don't want to do it.

So anyone knows of any other way to force some good QoS or buffer management to the router? maybe some command through telnet? Bandwidth control is pretty useless cause i know i can have max speeds and low bufferbloat through Windows connection so limiting my download speed from the router isn't really an option.

I'm having the exactly same problem, frequent disconnections while downloading with maximum band
Funny, because I prefered dont buy low-cost modems to buy this TD-W8980 tp-link and i ended doing a bad choice.
If you find any solution, please update it here.

I am having the EXACT same issues with my W8980. I can get a decent speed from the ISP but it bogs down between router and computer. Seems like the only time it works as it should is when I do a factory reset, then the speeds are good for the first few minutes. Then they start bogging down. So frustrating. Now it's losing connection for no apparent reason. Disabled UPnP and that didn't help any. Interested to know about the work-around using Windows for the PPOE connection instead of the router. How would that work exactly?