SBC refusing connect with ZoneAlarm installed [View All]

I've been running SBC DSL since October and ZA firewall in some form or another since January. I moved, set up DSL at my new place, but kept getting these robocalls, emails, and postcards from DSL saying they see I haven't been using my connection/email. Not true. Working fine so I ignored them.

Thursday night, I arrived home to find all the typical lights illuminated on the DSL modem, but no internet connection. Contacted SBC tech support and after talking to "Chip" and then "Kevin" (uh, I'd put $20 on it that those are not their real names), I have learned that the product wasn't "registered". We first reset the modem, then the next guy "registered" the product for me. Neither option worked. He had me click Start-Run and type cmd and at the C-prompt, asked me to type ping yahoo.com, but at this point, I realized the problem (for them) is ZA. It's been blocking these pings from Ameritech ever since install. "Kevin" said those are meant to "protect me" by allowing my computer to make sure it is connected to the internet. Of course, if I disable ZA, I can connect just fine with obnoxious pop-ups and no security.

He assured me these pings were coming from my computer. Obviously not a ZA user. I explained the UDPs and pings are coming FROM them and every DSL provider on the planet. He told me to try uninstalling and then reinstalling ZA. Did this and had connectivity for about 15 minutes last night, now nothing w/o disabling ZA.

To top it off, I got a robocall from them last night again saying I had to register the product to avoid connection problems AND I cannot download updates from AVG, my anti-virus software.

What do I do????