Try some hobby electronics. The thought processes and approach to designing electronics overlaps somewhat with software development, and you can actually create tangible outputs (even if its as simple as automating your blinds, or your kettle).
This is true, but cable networks tend to degrade because of the way bandwidth is shared compared to DSL connections, and actually gets worse with higher adoption rates. It has to do with where the connection is actually multiplexed.
I don't know if you know much about the automation industry, but reverse engineering a driver so you can run it on a newer PC would be an unacceptable risk. Are you confident in your driver being able to safely control the industrial equipment? A coal train which costs $1000s of dollars a minute for any down time? Are you willing to take the blame or deal with the lawsuit if something goes wrong? The other side of the coin is that some companies do have the budget and can invest in newer technologies, but the cut over to new equipment is just down time they cannot afford - so be it if there's a risk of larger down time in the future.
I was recently forced from my ADSL2+ service over to the shiny new HFC system. My quality actually degraded - although my bandwidth increased, my latency is off the charts, especially in peak time. I contacted my ISP to see if I could go back to my ADSL2+ service and they flat out said no.