Sporadic internet crashing on AT&T

<p>Ok, I'm really fed up with my internet service by at&t. Every couple hours my internet connection completely goes bonkers for about 30 min. It slows down to snail mail. I bet it's even slower than dial up! Simple web pages such as google and yahoo fail to load. I can measure my connection speed by using "speed test application" and playing computer games. My computer cannot even pass the speed test because it takes TOO LONG! And when I'm playing games like Starcraft, CS source, etc my connection is at the lowest speed possible. My internet is slower than people living in China or Germany!</p>

<p>After this long rant, does anyone have any idea about what the problem is? It it purely at&t's fault? (I've called them twice and they have no solution). Is it some bum next door torrenting like mad?</p>

<p>I make sure that no one in my house is downloading anything, I have no viruses, and I stop all heavy programs. So I'm pretty sure the problem is external from my house.</p>