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What Modem Connection Speeds Can I Expect from the 56k Lines?
The answer to this quite frankly, is "That Depends". Presently,
full 56k connection speeds can only be achieved in laboratory conditions. Your
connection speeds will depend on the distance you are from the telephone
company's Central Office (the further you are, the lower the speed).
Your connection speed will also depend on the line quality of your
connection. Each time you place a telephone call, it will take a different route
to the person you are dialing. The call is routed through different lines and
switches, depending on their availability. Some switches and lines are older,
and therefore somewhat more corroded. This corrosion will cause some slight
noise on the line. Noise that can create a slight annoyance for voice calls, can
spell death or lower speeds for Internet data connections. Therefore, on one
Internet connection you may establish a 43.6k speed, and if you hang up and dial
again, you may establish a 45k or better connection.
Line noise can also be introduced by the quality of your home's internal
phone wiring. The wiring in phone jacks can be loose or corroded, especially in
older homes. Also, the line coming from your phone jack into your modem will
need to be in good condition for the higher speed connections.
Your actual download speed will be affected by the speed of your computer.
This is especially true if you have a software modem that uses your CPU chip to
process the modem data, instead of a dedicated chip on the modem board.
Finally, your download speed will be a factor of the overall traffic on the
Internet. Also, if a particular web site's server is slow, and/or there's a
large volume of traffic on that server, your download speeds will be
correspondingly slower.
For all of the above reasons, Internet Xpress cannot guarantee you'll
receive substantially higher connection speeds by using the 56k lines.
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