Connections Speeds   What Modem Connection Speeds Can I Expect   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.