AT&T Midwest

I've had At&t DSL for about 4 years now (since June 2006). Every year I would get about 4-5 days of outages total, which is not too terrible for a home connection...I guess.Over the past 2 months though, I've had higher attenutation, lower SNR, and more CRC errors on my line. Then a week ago, my complete land line went dead including my phone and internet. Since it was an area wide problem, the techs finally got it fixed in 4 days but my attentuation and SNR are the same. Fine. But at the moment my neighborhood cable failed, it fried my long-enduring and reliable Speedstream 4100 modem, which I could verify by borrowing my neighbor's spare DSL modem. The first day after my line was fixed, I was entirely flummoxed about why my DSL wasn't syncing, until I borrowed that modem and tested at the NID.I then called At&t's DSL tech support and asked for credit on a replacement modem (as it was At&t's outage that caused my modem to break). After some long negotiation, I eventually got hold a supervisor, Diane (I also have her ID number), who promised me credit for a new modem from the equipment store. I then called up the equipment store, who said they couldn't authorize credit. They passed me onto the Sales/Credit department because the store rep said sales/credit could buy the modem for me. The Credit department did say they could give me credit on the modem, but I would have to order the modem first and then call their department back. (But first they wanted me to talk to DSL tech support. Why??) So I called back the equipment store and ordered a new modem with my credit card. The saleswoman explicitly said she couldn't charge to my phone bill. Finally, I called the Credit department with my order number, but they claimed not to see my order and said they couldn't give me credit because I charged using a credit card -- this is despite claiming earlier that they could give me credit!!I then called the equipment store to cancel my order, although the rep said it already 'shipped' – I had only placed my order about one hour ago. He was unable to cancel, but then had the nerve to upsell me on a faster plan, although my attentuation and SNR prevent me from achieving better speeds! I'm planning to refuse this shipment and/or block this with my credit card provider, since At&t phone representatives are incompetent and unwilling to assist with this matter.A Quick Summary: At&t is basically ignoring its copper lines and only grudgingly performing basic mantainenace to them, while it raises the prices on most of its services. I had less dropped packets and connections this time last year.You also can’t trust the promises made by one department as they try to pass you off elsewhere in the big At&t bureaucracy. I was pretty much lied to by Diane in At&t DSL tech support and the representative in the credit department.Basically, you can’t rely on their phone hotlines except for getting a hold of tier 2 support and getting a tech to fix your multi-day outages. If you are ok with that, At&t is an ok choice for a low frills line. You should do a lot of research yourself here on DSLreports and look for outside sources. Despite having a valid claim to modem credit, I’m going to try to get a used modem elsewhere, probably on Craigslist…By the way, Clear Wireless coverage is available in most metropolises and has planned coverage in my area. I would pay the slightly higher costs for a better connection.