Captivate vs iPhone: Speed

I did not extensively test an iPhone 4, so I did not get a good feel for its multitasking. The iPhone 2G that I tested did not have multitasking. It was slow at times, but overall responsive.

Android's ability to multitask is great because you can have many apps open and running at once. Unfortunately, it doesn't work well on the Captivate due to memory issues. The good news is that turning off some of the widgets and using Advanced Task Killer to periodically kill lingering apps has helped. The downside of this is that it can cause the battery to drain more quickly. Reports are that the new firmware, available in Europe, solves the issue. This will hopefully be fixed with the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update due in September for the Captivate. The biggest place where this is a problem is that the onscreen buttons don't always respond. Once or twice I've caught myself trying to press a virtual button harder in an effort to get it to respond. The other solution is to periodically power down your phone and start it back up again.

If you don't mind managing your tasks either manually or with an automated schedule, Android's multitasking is a nice feature. Developers don't have to rewrite their apps to support it, like they do for the new iPhone OS. If you don't want to be thinking about phone performance, you're better off with an iPhone.

This is the fourth in a series of posts. You can find the first article here.

Captivate vs. iPhone: Ease of Use

To start off the ease of use discussion, I'll mention that I had been using an iPhone for a few weeks and had gotten used to how an iPhone worked.

At first, I had trouble getting used to the iPhone interface. It took me about three days to feel more or less comfortable with it. I still had trouble figuring out some of the settings, but for the most part, it has a very clean interface and is easy to use. Apple does a very good job of just making things work.

Switching to an Android-based phone, I felt clueless again. It took me about a week to feel relatively comfortable with the phone. (Part of this was my e-mail setup, which will be covered in a later post.) I'm still finding settings I didn't know were there. Google has done a great job of making sure their services just work. It's everything else that you want to do with the phone where the complexity starts.

There is one ease of use point where the Captivate beats the iPhone: notifications. Rather than having a notification pop-up on the screen and having to deal with it right now, the Captivate has a notification area. It displays an icon (or multiple icons) at the top of the screen. A simple flick of the finger and you can see your notifications.

In short, the iPhone has a much better "it just works" Mac OS feel. Android feels more like using a really polished Linux machine or a combination of Linux and Windows. Apple clearly wins this category. It should be noted that different phone manufacturers modify Android. The Captivate ships with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface.

This is the third in a series of posts. You can find the first article here.

Captivate vs. iPhone: Overall Design

I mentioned in my previous post that while some felt the plastic feel of the Captivate was too light, I prefer having a lighter phone, though to be fair, the Captivate is only 0.3 ounces lighter than the iPhone. I was not able to get a good feel for how heavy the iPhone 4 was due to it being cabled to the stand at the AT&T store. The Captivate has a sleek looking design that some have compared to the older iPhones at a quick glance. The phone can slip easily in your hand, so I recommend getting a soft case. I bought the Body Glove Clear Soft Shell Case though I wish my local AT&T store had a case with a belt clip.

While the iPhone does boast a higher resolution display, the bigger, 4" AMOLED display on the Captivate is beautiful. It is nice and bright, though in limited full sun use, it was hard to see. Part of this could be due to the default settings of dimmer the screen as needed.

The mini-USB port is at the top of the phone. My last phone (as well as the iPhone I tested) plugged in at the bottom. That has taken a little getting used to. Samsung included a nifty feature when the mini-USB port is not in use. Rather than leaving the port open or having a rubber flap that tends to break, they have a plastic sliding cover. In theory, it was a good idea. In practice, I tend to forget to close it. It also takes a little extra shove to open completely. The one big flaw with the mini-USB port is that it does not use a standard mini-USB plug. This is a bummer as I have a number of mini-USB cables. It was nice having one plugged into my docking station and another in my bag.

The power button is on the side of the phone. Both my last phone and the iPhone I tested had the power button on the top. This isn't a problem, but I find that I'm still having trouble quickly turning on the phone.

I love that the iPhone 4 has both a front and rear facing video camera. This was a big draw for me. The Galaxy S, which the Captivate is based off of, has both video cameras. Sadly, AT&T did not have Samsung include the front facing camera in the Captivate. I suspect that it was to give the iPhone exclusivity in this department, at least for AT&T phones.

Overall, I prefer the look and feel of the Captivate to the iPhone 4. Previous iPhones are a closer call for me. The bigger screen of the Captivate ultimately wins in my opinion, even over the front facing camera due to the fact that the screen is used all of the time whereas the front facing camera is used for limited applications.

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Why I Chose the Samsung Captivate

I recently took the plunge and signed up for two more years with AT&T. I had been using the HTC Wizard and was long overdue for a new phone. I needed a smartphone and it had to be on AT&T due to the shared-minute plan I am on. My original plan was to get either a BlackBerry for its great e-mail and notification capability or an iPhone because of the great apps. I assumed that I would end up with a BlackBerry because it had a physical keyboard.

To help determine if an iPhone was right for me, I borrowed a friend's iPhone 2G. Unfortunately I could only keep my $30 unlimited data plan by going straight from my current phone to a new phone so I used the iPhone in WIFI only mode.

It took me a few days to a week to get used to the virtual keyboard. If it weren't for Apple's error correcting, it would have taken much longer. I was definitely much better in landscape mode, but still not as fast as with a physical keyboard.

After playing with a number of free applications and determining that the virtual keyboard would be good enough, I realized that my decision was between having the notifications of a BlackBerry along with the ability to tether for free and having a great mini computer that had an okay e-mail program. I wanted to get the iPhone, but I was torn.

It was at that point that I started looking into Android. With Android, I could get some of the same (or similar) apps as the iPhone. I also had the openness to install any application I wanted without rooting or jailbreaking my iPhone, which I refused to do. Android phones exist with all major U.S. carriers, so I would have the ability to keep my apps and switch providers, if I desired. I was intrigued.

My choices switched to the iPhone or the Samsung Captivate. I had the ability to play with the Captivate before it was available for sale. I also played with the iPhone 4. While some feel that the Captivate is too light, I enjoyed the feel of it much better than the iPhone 4. In fact, I enjoyed the feel of the iPhone 2G better than the iPhone 4. The bigger screen on the Captivate also helped typing on the virtual keyboard.

After much thinking and research, I settled on the Captivate despite the lack of the front-facing camera. I still wish AT&T had included it, but the openness of the Android platform (both apps and carriers) as well as the integration with Google swayed me.

I picked up my phone the day it came out. While I've had some issues with it, I still think it was the right choice. Stay tuned for more on my experience with the Samsung Captivate.

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The origin of the iPhone 4's signal problems?

Fans of government intervention and regulation believe that it is possible to create complex guidelines for businesses which give us only benefits and no detriments. But the reality is that every government regulation has an unintended consequence and one antenna designer is suggesting an FCC regulation is behind the reported iPhone 4 antenna issues. It may explain several other mysterious decisions behind Apple's designs in previous generations.

Just about every cell phone in current production has the antenna located at the bottom. This insures that the radiating portion of the antenna is furthest from the head. Apple was not the first to locate the antenna on the bottom, and certainly won't be the last. The problem is that humans have their hands below their ears, so the most natural position for the hand is covering the antenna. This can't be a good design decision, can it? How can we be stuck with this conundrum? It's the FCC's fault.

You see, when the FCC tests are run, the head is required to be in the vicinity of the phone. But, the hand is not!! And the FCC's tests are not the only tests that must be passed by a candidate product. AT&T has their own requirements for devices put on their network, and antenna efficiency is one of them. I know because I have designed quad-band GSM antennas for the AT&T network. The AT&T test similarly does not require the hand to be on the phone.

So, naturally, the design evolved to meet requirements - and efficient transmission and reception while being held by a human hand are simply not design requirements!

I can confirm that I have seen this issue with my iPhone, and it now appears Apple has acknowledged the issue. But it is interesting to see how it came about, and the pressures that may have justified it. In the meantime, many users are looking into cases to alleviate the issue.

AT&T leaks personal information for iPad 3G owners

Every day, the choice of AT&T as exclusive partner for Apple seems like a worse and worse decision. Not only have they dropped the unlimited data plans for iPhone and iPad, but now they have leaded personal information for iPad 3G owners. This is a very serious security breach, and affects many, many powerful people. It is time for Apple to take AT&T to the woodshed, or else open up the deal to other providers.

The breach, which comes just weeks after an Apple employee lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, exposed the most exclusive email list on the planet, a collection of early-adopter iPad 3G subscribers that includes thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media, from New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson to Diane Sawyer of ABC News to film mogul Harvey Weinstein to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It even appears that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's information was compromised.

It doesn't stop there. According to the data we were given by the web security group that exploited vulnerabilities on the AT&T network, we believe 114,000 user accounts have been compromised, although it's possible that confidential information about every iPad 3G owner in the U.S. has been exposed.

Nomad's Data Usage for on AT&T for iPhone

With AT&T's announcement of the end of "unlimited" data plans, new iPhone buyers will have to choose between a 200 MB and a 2 GB data plan. I thought Mod-Blog readers would be interested to see how much data I have been using.

I blame the recent spike in data usage on my new love for Evernote.

Sprint bypasses AT+T with the "iPad 4G Case"

Sprint may be dying, but it is not going down without a fight! While AT&T and Verizon continue to get the cool phones, it is trying everything to wrest marketshare from the giants. Their newest attempt is the 4G iPad Case which includes a Mifi router (which interfaces with their WiMax network and produces a mobile Wifi hotspot) and a professional-looking case for your Wifi iPad. The idea being you get a faster connection this way, than by using AT&T's 3G network. Great idea, although it lacks the convenience of a built-in 3G connection.

GSM (i.e. Your Cell Phone) has been cracked!

There are days when it pays to be telephobic. I am one of those people who will tend to reply to a phone call with an e-mail, a text message, a tweet, a face-to-face drop-by - anything to avoid having to actually use a telephone. But at the same time, I rely heavily on my iPhone to stay connected, and use it for both casual web browsing AND for doing eCommerce transactions.

It turns out that a group of hackers has hacked the most common cell phone system in the world - GSM and has released the results of the hack into the wild. This means anyone with a radio card, a laptop, and a little know-how can listen in on the cell phone calls of anyone on T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and many other providers (Sprint and Verizon use a competing standard called CDMA and are unaffected).

This is potentially a business-killer for GSM cellular companies, especially those who sell to businesses and government users. It is likely well be seeing firmware updates shortly to address the security hole. Or else the cell companies will try to use it as an excuse to make you pay for a new phone and re-up your contract.

Unboxing the iPhone 3GS

I know many Mod-Bloggers won't care about this, but some may be interested in seeing the unboxing of my new iPhone 3GS. So far, I am loving the voice command feature and the new camera. Click on the image below for the whole set.

AT&T hamstrings Slingplayer for iPhone

I don't own a Slingplayer. Don't even want one. But I can see the utility of it, especially for those who travel and desperately want a chance to watch their local sports team or local news broadcasts. (For those not aware, Slingplayers allow you to stream your local TV across the internet to any net-connected system which can run their software.) Slingplayer has been available for Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices for years, and finally an iPhone app is on the way, perhaps in the next 24 hours.

The problem? Despite already allowing Slingplayers on all other Smartphones on its network, AT&T has forced Apple to ban use of Slingplayer on their 3G network so that the final release app only works on Wifi. Why? AT&T says "the iPhone is not a phone but a computer." The real reason? AT&T is finally coming to grips with the fact they have sold more network bandwidth than they have to offer.

I suspect a class action lawsuit may be on the way, if AT&T does not rectify the situation by late summer. The next iPhone is sure to stress their network even more, and nothing says "push Apple to Verizon" faster than banning apps users desperately want.

iPhone 3G remains sold out

I have been trying to pick up an iPhone 3G for weeks now, but have not been willing to stand in line at 4 AM to do so. I have been glued to the 3G iPhone checker offered by Apple and have been amazed to see that despite blips, the iPhone 3G remains sold out almost everywhere. This, after reportedly selling 1 million iPhones the first weekend, and having on-hand far more stock than for the original iPhone launch.

AT&T Makes Hot Spots FREE for iPhones

This has been rumored for a long time, but now apparently is official. I wonder if it will be on all iPhones, or only 3Gs. Either way, it is a welcome change.

Alleged photos of the 3G IPhone online

CrunchGear is at it again. They were amng the first to leak the iPod Nano "Fatty" pictures, and now they are leaking what appears to be the new 3G iPhone in picture form. It looks surprisingly good, but that is never an assurance it is not Photoshopped. The big news on this one is black and project (red) versions, and a front-facing camera for video phone calls via iChat!

It is going to be a long weekend, waiting for the Monday keynote.

iPhone 3G releases June 9?

Many sites are now reporting that the iPhone 3G, a.k.a. iPhone 2.0, will launch on June 9. This allegedly has been confirmed by "inside sources" and matches other leaks found on fringe sites. This is exciting news, if true. I love my iPhone and the overall user experience. I have even caused a few friends and family members to get ones of their own.

I won't say that I will upgrade immediately. But I will mention I may have a used iPhone 1.0 for sale soon.

Analog Cell Phone Networks to Close Monday

Do you have a relative who bought a cell phone in the early 90s and has refused to upgrade again and again? Do you live somewhere that only analog cell phones reach? Well, to the chagrin of upgrade-phobics and farmers alike, AT&T and Verizon are ending their analog networks on Monday. Other major providers like T-Mobile and Sprint never had analog networks/

The biggest U.S. mobile operators, AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, will close down their analog networks that day. At the same time, AT&T will turn off its first digital network, which uses TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) technology. (Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA don't have analog networks.) Calls to some small, rural mobile operators indicated that most of them plan to shut down AMPS, too.

There aren't many mobile phones out there that will go dark after the analog sunset, according to the big carriers, which have been warning subscribers about the change for months and offering them incentives to switch over.

"We're talking about a very, very small number of customers here," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel. He estimated that 99.9 percent of AT&T's traffic is carried on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis estimated that less than 1 percent of that carrier's subscribers were on analog even before it started a big effort to reach them last year. Neither gave exact numbers of subscribers. But given that those operators have about 60 million subscribers each, the number might still be in the hundreds of thousands.

It will be interesting to see what the actual outcry is, especially since those most likely to be impacted are the old and poor. Exactly those least able to deal with change or spring for a new phone.

Quickie: 16 GB iPhone released

If you are eager for non-political news, Apple has announced 16 GB iPhones for $499. No 3G networking as of this time.

AT&T DSL Is Back Up!

In case you've missed the story, it starts here with an update here.

My AT&T DSL is now up! It only took a little over two weeks, but my AT&T DSL is now up and working. Here is the rest of what I have had to do.

Approximately 3PM today: I called AT&T to discuss my bill. I received a bill more than double what I should have had to pay due to the DSL modem being sent out even though I did not request it. During this phone call I found out that my DSL connection had been order and got the order number. The "turn on" date is 1/17/2008. I was then transferred to the appropriate office for getting credit on my DSL modem which UPS confirmed had been delivered. That credit is supposed to take effect Thursday. Unless there are issues, I won't follow up with a post on it, but I will be checking back with AT&T to confirm that the credit does go through. After getting off the phone, I give a call to a contact that I've recently made at AT&T who said that s/he would be able to help me once the order got placed. I left a message for him/her with the order number. (I am purposefully leaving details out in case this person was not supposed to offer to be so helpful. You know who you are and if you happen to find this blog post, I'd like to say that I'm extremely grateful for your help.)

Approximately 4:45PM today: I look outside my front window and see an AT&T van. There is someone working on the phone box at the side of house. I go out to see if the DSL is, in fact, hooked up. He confirms that it is now hooked up. I was not able to test it right away.

6:45PM today: DSL light is blinking green and red. I call tech support. They have me try a different phone jack which works. I had changed which line the original phone jack was hooked up to and forgot to secure the screws that held the wires.

7:00PM today: I've got DSL, but I can't connect to the internet. My username and password are not working. I get connected with the right person. He tells me that my account is not scheduled to go live until 1/17/2008, but after I explained to him the situation, he agreed to do what he could do. After trying a few things, we reactivate my old account and get me up and running. Process took awhile, but here I am. (At least on one computer... now I have to get it back up with wireless, etc.)

I would also like to thank the person who recognized that the final disconnect as well as the entire process were taking entirely too long. S/he was able to get my case escalated. I am extremely greatful to you as well.

In the end, AT&T has waived the activation fee, credited me two months of internet service, and given me a 6 MB / 768k line for the price of a 3 MB / 512k line for one year. Their lousy service has been, for the most part, inexcusable; however, there have been a few shining stars that have worked hard to make things as right as they could. AT&T, you have some good staff who could turn your company's image around if you would just give them the tools they need to quickly fix company mistakes.

AT&T Update

This is an update to the post entitled Why I'm Hating AT&T

I talked to someone in San Diego today. Another person trained in DSL. I called to verify that the DSL shut-off at our old place went through and that the order for our new place was put in the system. I'm glad I called because the system has still not updated. I am now on the escalation team's list, which should hopefully speed things up. I also found out why things take so long: Regulation. Apparently, even though AT&T could get things worked out in a day, they have to purposefully slow down their system to wait two days so that they are operating at the same speed as their competitor. This is even more ridiculous than the time I canceled my long distance service with them and they charged me a fee because the government said they could charge a fee so they have to charge the fee.

Update: See AT&T DSL Is Back Up!

Why I'm Hating AT&T

As I've mentioned in the ShoutBox, AT&T has completely messed up my DSL order. At this point, the company's incompetence has reached a level that I feel I need to take it to another level. Hence this blog post and planned letters to the editor in my area newspapers. A brief summary:

A few days before 12/31/2007: I attempt to switch my AT&T service from my current address to my new address. Their website says that they will waive the transfer fee if I use the online tools. I attempt to use their online tools using two different browsers (Firefox and IE for Windows), but the process will not let me get past one step. I call AT&T to transfer service and ask if they will waive the transfer fee since I attempted to use their online tools and they did not work. They agree. We schedule transfer for both DSL and home phone server for 12/31. I am told there will be 2-4 hours of downtime. I let customers and co-workers know that I will be down that day (I work from home) and give them an emergency contact number.

12/29/2007: We move out of the old place and into the new place

12/31/2007 (early AM... possibly midnight): Phone service goes dead. DSL is still active.

12/31/2007 (12:30 PM): Doorbell rings at our new place. It is the service rep to set up the phone line. I ask about DSL. He says checks and says that typically they do DSL on a separate day, but that my order got put in at the same time so that it should be working. He gives me a contact number in case there are problems.

12/31/2007 (later that day): I bring my DSL equipment to our new place only to find out that the DSL is not working. At this point, phone service is at our new place, DSL is at our old place. I call up AT&T and they tell me that DSL service will not be transfered until Friday 1/4/2008. Annoying, but we have the old place until 1/7/2008 so not a huge deal. I bring the DSL equipment back to the old place.

1/2/2008: DSL goes dead at the old place. I assume that things went quicker than they promised and bring the DSL equipment back to the new place. I plug it in - no dice. I call AT&T and they tell me that they have disconnected it at the old place and that it is scheduled to come back up on Friday, 1/4/2008. I explain that I work at home and that this does not work for me. She says that she will try to expedite it and says that it will be late Thursday or early Friday. I am not happy, but figure it is the best I can do. In the process, we realize that the current orders were in to turn it back on at our old place instead of our new place. I explain that it needs to go to our new place and assume that come Friday morning at the latest I will have my DSL service.

1/4/2008 (morning): There is a big storm in the area that knocks out our power. I assume that the DSL should be on (after all, they just have to "flip a switch", right?).

1/4/2008 (afternoon): I head over to our old place to help my wife and mother-in-law clean. While there, UPS shows up with a DSL modem. I'm worried. I should not be getting a DSL modem, especially at my old place. We finish cleaning (my wife and mother-in-law did 99% of the work - you're the best!). The apartment is now completely clean. The only reason for us going back into the apartment is to show it to the apartment manager on 1/7/2008 to get our deposit back.

1/4/2008 (later that afternoon): I come back to our new place, plug in the DSL equipment and get nothing. I call AT&T. They are in the process of turning DSL on at our old place! I explain how this is not acceptable because I work at home and was originally told 2-4 hours of downtime and that we went over the address issue on Wednesday. I explain that I can not set things back up in the apartment because it is clean. They tell me that I will have to wait until Wednesday, 1/9/2008. They offer to put in a note to credit me the DSL setup fee (which I was not aware I would be charged on a *transfer* anyway) as well as one month of phone and DSL service. I am not happy, but I know that the person was doing the best that they personally could, so I continue pressing on. I am told to return the DSL modem at their expense so that I am not charged for it. They are also marking my order "urgent" to try to speed things up. I have since learned that "urgent" on an order must mean either "treat as any other order" or "take extra time with this order".

1/9/2008: Today should be the day! I plug in my DSL equipment. Still nothing. I call AT&T. What are they doing today? They're DISCONNECTING the service from our old place. Because I foolishly decided that I wanted to keep my old phone number since I was just moving across town and didn't want to have to update my phone number everywhere, it takes longer. I am presented with a choice: change my phone number and I can get DSL on 1/14/2008 or keep my phone number and I can get DSL on 1/16/2008. I decide to keep my phone number and they put in a credit (instead of just a note) for the DSL activation fee plus two months of DSL service. I explain that I am not happy, but believe that she has given me the fairest shake that she personally can give me.

1/10/2008: AT&T decides to block me from sending mail through my non-AT&T e-mail servers. I call AT&T to explain to them that I can't wait any longer. I need the DSL on now. I've been down and now they're just kicking me while I'm down by not allowing me to send through my non-AT&T e-mail servers. I talk to a DSL customer care specialist (there are only a few and they're normally busy). He explains to me as other have before that the system takes a few days to catch up with itself. That is, the schedule has gone like this: Issue disconnect order, wait a few days for the system to catch up with itself, issue connect order for wrong address, wait a few days for the system to catch up with itself, issue a disconnect order, wait a few days for the system to catch up with itself, issue a connect order and three to five days later it will be up. This means that the fastest AT&T claims it can transfer DSL service is about one week. If they mess once, it could be as long as two weeks. The system WILL NOT ALLOW THEM to put in my order because it still thinks my DSL is on at our old place... even though it isn't. They assure me that it is a computer problem and not a paperwork problem. The DSL guy says that he will put a task in Outlook and check every few hours for the system to recognize that my service is disconnected. Once it does, he will put in my order to get it kicked off as soon as possible. As soon as possible meaning sometime between Wednesday, 1/16/2008 and Friday 1/18/2008. I explain that I wish to speak with a manager, will be researching cable internet, and will be posting about this, etc. He says that the managers are all in a conference, but that one can give me a call back on Monday, 1/14/2008. To keep me as a loyal customer, he offers to talk to his manager, etc. about giving me a free year of the next highest speed DSL (a $120 value).

1/10/2008 (after the phone call): The same AT&T service rep that installed my phone line shows up. He is here to put in our second line. (We had them transferred on separate days to make sure we had one line working.) He asks about the DSL. I tell him what is up. He agrees with me (and the customer care reps that I have talked to) that AT&T has messed up. He gives me his contact information as well as his manager's contact information. He explains to me that the managers are all in conference due to the previous Friday's storm and that he can not even reach his manager now. He checks to see if the DSL order is in the system, but can not access it yet because of the problem with the system catching up with itself. He says to give him a call when the order goes in and he will see what he can do to expedite it.

1/10/2008 (after the meeting with the service rep): I call AT&T tech support to go over my issue with being able to send e-mail. After talking through 3 or 4 levels of tech support, they say that I should just send it through their servers. This solution, while it technically works, doesn't work for me. Because I control my company's mail server, I am able to make things work.

At this point, I have basically lost 6 business days due to this issue. I figure out of the last 7 business days plus weekends, I have cranked out one or two business days worth of work. AT&T is a perfect example of what happens when a company gets too big and stops caring about its customers.

Note 1: This is not against any of the employees of AT&T. The individual employees of AT&T, while they may have messed up, have appeared to try to do what they can do in their power to make me happy. It appears the system is messed up given the turn-around time. AT&T needs to be able to fix things quickly when it is their fault. It also appears they need better training for their employees. Without mentioning names, the DSL specialist I talked to on 1/10/2008 and the service rep who has set up phone service stand out as going above and beyond their job in an effort to help me out and for that I am very appreciative. In my book (assuming they make things happen like I believe they will), they deserve a bonus or raise.

Note 2: Those connected with AT&T may claim that the 2-4 hour downtime was only supposed to be for the phone line. DSL takes at least 3 days. While this may be true, (1) I was only told 2-4 hours and (2) the phone service alone was down more than 2-4 hours.

Update 1: See AT&T Update

Update 2: See AT&T DSL Is Back Up!