how can I increase my dialup speed? in winme i connect at 56k, Linux 26.4. is there something I can do? want to dump win all toeagther but need to get lin 100% thanks

I'm sorry, but this is slightly funny. I hate to tell you this, but you've been "Microsofted". What does this mean? Well, modems use two data rates. One data rate is used from the computer to the modem. The second data rate (true data rate - the rate at which it is actually being moved over the phone line) is used from modem to phoneline (to the other modem). Microsoft and many modem vendors prefer to configure their modems to incorrectly report the higher of the two data rates. It is not uncommon, however, to have a modem with another OS, report its true line rate. The result is that you appear to be getting a much lower data rate. In other words, you are getting the same data rates with both OS's. The initialization string you send to your modem will dictate what gets reported by the modem. You may wonder why we would use two data rates? Well, modems have onboard hardware compression. In order to prevent data from siting in a modem for long periods of time while it is compressed prior to transmission, the idea is that you increase the data rate to the modem and dump a big block of data to it. The modem can now compress the data and send it onward in the same or less time than it would of taken it to transmit the same amount of data to the modem at the lower baord rate. In this way, you are able to move more data through the phone line than would otherwise be possible. Now, if all that wasn't bad enough, the data rate reported by you modem at connect time is nearly worthless! Many vendors send tons of extra money so that their modems will negotiate higher data rates initially, however, within seconds of it being connected, and after the initial rate has been reported, modems will often retrain (renegotiate) to a slightly lower rate. Having said that, it's also possible, though somewhat rare, that modems will actually retrain to a higher rate after connection. They constantly monitor the line for noise and attempt to adopt to it (for better or worse from a data rate perspective). Last, let me say that for most modem users, anything above 26.4 is considered good. Most people never see 33.6. I live less than a mile from the CO and live in a new area, and I usually get 44.8. That data rate is considered to be excellent. Notice that it's still not 56k (keep in mind, in the US, 56k modems will only get 52k at max because of FCC restrictions). Greg