My free AT&T WorldNet CD finally arrived this past Friday, and by Saturday afternoon I was back online. Well, more or less. The sign-up process wasn’t exactly intuitive, the first phone number I dialed was busy, and the backup number may or may not be a local call. The beauty of a cable modem, aside from its speed, is that it’s always on. You never have to watch the clock or worry that you’re online during peak hours. You pay one flat rate, receive unlimited hours, and it makes life much easier. AT&T doesn’t like making life easier. At the end of the month, I need to call them to cancel the dial-up service or they will automatically rebill my account. And yet they’ve given me no definite date when my cable modem service will be restored. They have told me practically nothing. What little I know is pieced together from reports from other disgruntled customers at the State College, PA ATTBI Forum at DSLreports. I learned more there in five minutes than I did in an entire weekend of calling AT&T’s so-called customer support.

DSL is looking better every day. That, or moving.