Donna Steggs, who heads the Atlanta-based seven-doctor practice, said she had been unable to contact Speedfactory. On Monday, she said, NextPhase representatives gave her plenty of reasons for the disruption, but her office was still without service. Steggs said she was told connections would resume by this morning.

"Changing our provider is under serious consideration," she said late Monday.

Milt Aitken, owner of Internet provider Net 2 Atlanta, sensed impending failure at his competitor. He left a note on Speedfactory's door offering to acquire its assets.

"I called NextPhase last week, and they told me it would be up shortly," he said - adding he would be happy to reconnect any of Speedfactory's customers.