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Q: My 56K modem only
connects at 26,400. How can I set it to connect
higher? When I go to modem on the control panel, it is
already set to connect at 115,000.
A: The modem you have is capable of connecting
at up to 56,000bps (bits per second), although it is limited by the FCC to
53,000bps. This is the fastest speed any modern dial-up modem can achieve. The speed depends heavily on phone line quality and distance to the phone company. Most areas support between 38,000 to
48,000bps. Some
rural areas can not support speeds faster than 14,000bps
if at all. The farther you are from the phone company, the slower the speed will be. There is no setting you can change on your computer to connect to your ISP any faster.
The setting under modem properties that shows 150,000bps
is the serial port speed. This involves the actual computer bus speed. Since some serial devices such as older digital cameras will not operate at high serial speeds this setting was made available. This setting is available for modems, because they are also serial devices. However, changing the serial speed will not effect 56K modems since they
now use a different technology to connect.
Note: Some modems made with Rockwell chipsets between late 1998 to mid 1999 came with
software that showed the serial speed when connected instead the actual connection speed.
Note: One option to get a faster Internet
connection would be to sign up with cable Internet if it
is offered in your area. Cable companies offer
speeds of up to 1.5mbps (1,500,000bps) Considering
the cost of an additional phone line plus the cost of
your current Internet provider, cable companies offer
much faster Internet connections at competitive prices.
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