Hi kabster, don't know why you dislike the cable industry so much, but thats your business, not mine.
As for me, I use digital cable, complete with high speed internet (without having to use a phone line). I enjoy it a lot. I also work for a cable television provider, and can tell dtocco that the signal loss could be any number of things, most likely in the line from the cable plant (where it comes off the pole or out of the ground) to the house is most likely at fault, and a qualified technician with a signal analysis meter and some training should be able to correct the problem. It may take a few trips to get the signal to be at its best, but once it is, you shouldn't have any problems with the line for several years.