• The Basics
• Why doesn't my 28.8 Kbps modem connect at 28.8 Kbps?
• Is there anything the Sympatico service can do to improve my connect speed?
• My modem reports connections of 38400, 57600 or 115200 bps. Am I really connecting that fast?
• What about x2 and K56flex?
• My modem still seem slow. Isn't this a problem with the Sympatico service?
• Is there anything I can do to improve my transfer speed in situations like the ones you've described above?
• The nuts and bolts of modem speed

You don't need much technical knowledge to understand the information on this page, but since we're talking about modem speed, let's start by defining a few related terms that are sometimes difficult to understand.

Kbps stands for kilobits per second (kilo = thousand), and refers to the speed at which your modem sends and receives information. Just to avoid confusion, 33.6 Kbps = 33600 bps, 28.8 Kbps = 28800 bps (where bps means bits per second), and so on.

Most Windows and Macintosh applications that use modems express transfer rates in K/s, kilobytes per second, which is a slightly different way of measuring the same thing (transfer speed). Generally speaking, a 28.8 Kbps modem's fastest transfer rate is approximately 3.2 K/s. A 33.6 Kbps modem generally won't go faster than 3.7 K/s.

It is not uncommon for 28.8 Kbps modems to connect at 24000, 21600 or 19200 bps, or for 33.6 Kbps units to connect at 31200 bps. Generally speaking, a slower connect speed does not indicate a problem with your modem, nor a problem with the Sympatico service.

Further, your initial connect speed may not necessarily hold for the duration of a connection to the Sympatico service (or any other ISP or online service to which you might connect). Depending on a number of factors, your speed may increase and/or decrease at various times over the course of a given Internet connection session, although you won't usually be aware of these changes.

Some Background

The 28.8, 33.6, and 56 Kbps modem standards push your analog voice phone line to its absolute limit. Transmitting voice communications over phone lines isn't all that demanding, and the odd hiss, crackle, or bit of line noise doesn't have a serious effect on the quality of a phone conversation. Not so with data communications, however. When you connect to the Internet you are making a data connection between your modem and the receiving modem of the Sympatico service. The slightest bit of interference can have a significant impact on the quality of your connection.

Data connections at 14.4 Kbps are no problem; even older phone lines can usually handle it. Connections at 28.8 Kbps and 33.6 Kbps are much trickier, however, and both count on there being some more advanced, digital telephone technology in place on the circuit between the two connecting modems. If the telephone circuit between your modem and the Sympatico service relies heavily on older technology, or if there is some kind of noise or interference on the line, your modem will downshift to a slower connect speed.

Members living in certain rural areas may be particularly affected by these problems, due to the distances over which their modems must communicate, and the fact that rural phone technology is often more antiquated than its urban equivalent.

Regrettably, no. Many members believe, quite understandably, that since the Sympatico service is offered by their telephone company, it should be possible to arrange for phone line upgrades through Sympatico Member Services. Unfortunately, this is not the case: Sympatico is offered by a division of your phone company which is quite divorced from that which manages the physical telephone network.

Rest assured, however, that significant upgrades are in development. Line quality throughout the network will gradually improve, and new technologies will be implemented that improve transmission speed beyond the capabilities of traditional analog modems.

Not likely! Connect speeds above 53,000 bps are misleading; they actually refer to something called DTE speed, which is the rate at which your computer communicates with your modem, not the rate at which your modem communicates with the Sympatico service's modem. Currently, the fastest speed at which one can connect using a traditional analog modem x2, K56flex or V90) is 53 Kbps. Most experts agree that this is the upper limit of analog modem technology.

You can read more about 56 Kbps standards and the Sympatico service.

Unless the Sympatico service is experiencing some kind of unforeseen network outage or a period of unusually heavy usage, the answer to the above question is no. Sympatico's internal network, which encompasses the dialup modems as well as terminal, Web, news, and mail servers, is more than fast enough to accommodate all Sympatico members. The connection between this network and the global Internet is also extremely fast.

The Sympatico service alerts its members to any network and/or e-mail outages with its Service Bulletins Check there first if you find your access slower than usual. Service Bulletins are also accessible from the main Help page, and the lower left sidebar of your Sympatico Home Page.

Slowdowns can most often be attributed to conditions elsewhere on the Internet. Here are a few situations in which you might experience reduced transfer speed:

• If you have a choice of several different sites from which to retrieve the same information, always choose the one that seems geographically closest to you. Sites whose domain addresses end in .ca (like www.sympatico.ca) are Canadian and should generally be used before those with other suffixes.
• When downloading large files, try to do so during off-peak hours (late at night or early in the morning). Be aware of time-zone differences between your location and the location of the site from which you are downloading.
• If a particular Web page is arriving incredibly slowly, try clicking Stop on your browser toolbar and then clicking Reload or Refresh.

Modem Handshaking:
data compression; and
how you can improve your modem's connection speed.

Curt's High Speed Modems Page
Navas 28800-56K Modem FAQ
Data Communications FAQ
comp.dcom.modems newsgroup

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