Most Reliable 56K pay as you go dial-up at the moment??

Can anybody let me know what they think is most efficient and reliable 56k
PAYG dial-up at the moment.

Friend used Breathe, but it was connecting at around 31000 and performing
like a slug, so I changed them to UKonline, which fluctuated between 36000
and 45100. Now this was is no better than 32000 and a slug.

Many thanks.

Rgds

Laphan

"Laphan" <news.RemoveThis@DoNotEmailMe.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3f96db77_3@127.0.0.1...
 > Can anybody let me know what they think is most efficient and reliable 56k
 > PAYG dial-up at the moment.
 >
 > Friend used Breathe, but it was connecting at around 31000 and performing
 > like a slug, so I changed them to UKonline, which fluctuated between 36000
 > and 45100. Now this was is no better than 32000 and a slug.
 >
 > Many thanks.
 >
 > Rgds
 >
 > Laphan
 >
56K is a theoretical limit that virtually no modem reaches. Anything over
40K is very good in my neck of the woods.
The quality of the connection medium between any two points affects speed
more than anything else. Consistently slow transmissions are usually due to
packets being re-sent because of data being dropped during transmission due
to poor media quality.

A dial-up provider is usually connected to the telco by a more direct high
speed connection with fewer transitions between types of transmission media
(e.g. drop loop to cable, to microwave, to fiber, to cable to drop loop,
etc.) than the connection between your residence and the telco. The
proximity of other electrical equipment and electrical lines to your phone
line in the house and from the house to the street can degrade dial-up
transmission speed. Try removing any answering machines, faxes, and
disconnecting other phones and see if speed improves. They often are of poor
quality and/or installed improperly (e.g. not fully grounded). A phone line
with a nail in it where you hung Aunt Maude's picture is guaranteed slow.

I used to work for one of the major telco's in the US and set up several
ISP's. Our statistics regarding where connection speed problems were found
when good quality modem chipsets were used at the customer end were...
71% - from the output side of the modem, through the inside wiring, to the
connection outside the residence.
14% - from the connection outside the residence, through the drop loop, to
the cable on the street.
8% - from the street cable to the telco Central Office.
1% - within the Central Office
2% - from the Central Office to the ISP.
3% - within the ISP
1% - Unknown
You should note that our ISP's were in the same buildings as the Central
Offices so your mileage may vary.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->