Jay Laifman wrote:
> No Sunbeam content.
>
> We finally joined the 20th Century (yes, as it is either over or ending)
> and bought a computer at home. We got the iMac with an internal 56K baud
> modem. It also came with a free month of Earthlink. My question is that
> every time I log on, the baud rate is indicated at 26,400 or 24,600. Never
> more.
Jay:
I use a PC, not a Mac, but if Macs have the equivalent, try something like
this: Go to "Control Panel", or the equivalent where your modem is listed.
Click on your modem. In PC systems you then click on "Properties" or "Modem
Properties". This will list modem speeds. Even if you're have a 56K modem, if
the modem properties setting is less than 56K (if it's set to 28K, etc.), it
won't be allowed to run at its top potential speed. Set the speed as high as
the list you'll pull up allows. On my PC with a 56K modem I installed, I have
the speed setting set to 230,000 bps. Of course it doesn't run at that speed
but you have eliminated your own computer setting up a "filter" to slow
transmission down. As I post this, my modem is running (downloading) at
44,000bps, and it varies between 40 and 46,000bps depending on the time of day.
You can't hurt anything by doing this, so experiment with different speed
settings until you get optimal performance.
The comments that phone line quality also affects speed are absolutely correct,
and also different brands of 56K modems do better with "messy" phone
connections than others. Also, check to see if you run at higher speeds late at
night when there's less traffic on your ISP.
Have fun.
Steve Sage
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 08:49:35 CDT