Over the past year my dial-up modem connect speed has been working
it's way downward. I used to connect at around 44-46k, but it's been
going down, more or less stepwise, first to about 40k, and now to
33-36k, although I actually had one connect at 19k.

I called my local phone service repair line to see what they had to
say about this, and was told that they will only guarantee 14.4k. To
me, this seems rediculously slow, but I haven't called anyone else.

What do people out there get these days? Is switching local telco
providers likely to make any difference? Is there any chance that the
14.4k is just a smoke screen that I need to poke thru a bit to get
better results.

And, yes, I used a laptop to connect directly to the telco service
disconnect with the rest of my house disconnected. The results were
the same, so I'm sure that the problem is outside my home.

Please don't bother suggesting something faster. I know about those
options. My dial-up ISP is free, and would prefer to avoid the
considerable extra expense of a high speed connection.

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Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
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