>In fact, 53k is the maximum dialup speed permitted by the FCC, so it is >not possible (at least in the United States) to accomplish a higher speed >with a dialup connection. I have no idea why the FCC cares about data >transfer speeds on telephone voice lines.... but they do.
Actually, they don't care about connection speeds. What they care about is how much power is shoved over a voice line. Its an old, obsolete rule that was in place when cable quality was poor and crosstalk was common. But the FCC is probably the SLOWEST moving group in the USA, so they can't figure out how to amend the decision in a time frame that lets people give a crap. And I don't believe it effects all 56k, I believe it only effects x2 and v.90 versions. If you have K56Flex, then you can get the full 56k speed. Alas, K56Flex didn't catch on as strong as x2, and both were later replaced by the v.90 standard (which I believe is actually a direct offshoot of x2). I did find a link to a news story from 1998 that said the FCC was considering changing the spec to allow for the full 56k connection. To the best of my knowledge, it has NOT been changed yet. So they have been "thinking about it" for 6 years now!!! And some wonder why so many people hate the FCC and think it is an obsolete, useless, barricade to progress! -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
