Connecting at >24k

Before I go complain to AOL as to why my two computers are connecting at 24k or below, I'd like to know could it be a problem with the phone line or is it AOL just being really lame? We have had AOL for a good 10 years (95-present, roughly) and never have I had to restart my computer every five minutes to be able to log on for a short period before the whole internet freezes up and ceases to do anything. Also, the house phone that we use has a scratchy backround sound during conversations.

My question is, anyone know how I could get this fixed myself? The reason I want to do this by myself is because the time I needed AOL for something they just made the porblem worse and Verizon (Phone Company, don't even get me started) won't do much for me either.

Any input is appreciated although please don't respond with "Switch to Cable, it's great" and DSL is OUT of the question completely.

Anyway thanks,
James

a poor phone line will always degrade the ability to connect, and it will try to connect at the fastest speed, and keep slowing down the connection until it succeeds in getting a response. then it stays there, and never even tries to speed up. You should see if the phone line quality is good *anywhere* in the house. If you can find at least one place that it is good, then you may have a loose connection somewhere that is messing everything else up.

If the line quality is poor throughout, then you should get the phone company to come out. They can do a line test to see if there is trouble on the line. It may be a bad component that is causing the trouble before it even gets to your house, and they'll fix it for free. The only charge for inside work.

Don't expect to connect at 56K. This is the maximum achievable rate. I don't think that I ever got above 42K, but it has been a few years. My father generally gets 33K or so, as I recall, so I know that 24K is slow.

It's definately your phone line. I had this same problem untill I switched to cable.

You could try looking up information on modem init codes and find one specific for your modem. The proper coe can make all the difference. I used to work internet technical support and youd be surprised how often building the right init code for a users modem could make them connect faster and more stable. Unfortunatly it has been a long time since I have done this so I dont remember much more about it. :p

I am referring to codes like AT&F&C1&D2

Dont use that one, its just sets a modem back to factory defaults I used as an example.