Students using AT&T @Home as their Internet provider will receive a $40 credit to their account and should notice an improvement in their service.

Customers should have noticed the beginnings of improvements in their service yesterday, Dan Garfinkel, the Regional Director of Communications for AT&T @Home said.

AT&T @Home is implementing a step-by-step program that will update software, make use of a faster Ethernet card, replace IP addresses and balance equipment.

"We are working aggressively to correct the problem," Garfinkel said.

In addition to the improvements, a letter will be sent to the 3600 AT&T @Home users in State College offering them a $40 credit to their account, which is equivalent to one free month of service.

"We will take whatever steps needed," Garfinkel said. "We want people to feel good about using cable modems."

All of the steps in the correction process should be complete by mid-November.

"We are monitoring State College very closely," Garfinkel said.

AT&T @Home knows there is a problem and wants to fix it, he added.

As the provider promised, students are beginning to see an improvement in their service.

"The service is better, but it is still inconsistent at times," Dana Garling (junior-elementary education) said.

The connection is not going out as frequently as before and customers are hopeful the problem will be solved.

Other students said they have waited too long for the problem to be solved and are looking at other possible Internet providers.

"This is ridiculous," said Brenda Luff (sophomore-secondary education/Spanish). "It has been almost two months, and it's still not fixed."

The service has improved, she said, but she is considering switching to using a phone line connection rather than a cable modem.