I use a Netgear router FWG114P http://www.netgear.com/Products/VPNandSSL/WirelessVPNFirewallRouters/FWG114P.aspx to connect to a cable modem. That router has a serial port, so an analog modem can be connected as back up when the cable fails. My analog modem is an old US Robotics Courier http://www.usr.com/support/overview-template.asp?prod=s-cour). Everything works fine and the analog modem makes 44kb for dial up when the cable modem is unplugged. That speed is normal for my phone line. The problem is that the modem only connects with 26kb when I dial into the network. I want to use the RAS feature of the router to get to my home network when I am on the road and no cable is available, but 26kb is really too slow. I tinkered with all the settings, and searched Netgear's website for help, but no improvement. Any suggestions?
The point is that I often travel to locations where I do not have any cable access. Phone with analog modem is the only option. Currently I pay an ISP $10/month so I can use that option. I want to eliminate that payment. Everything works as planned - I can dial into my home network, access resources there, and if I want to I can also go back out through the cable to surf the web. Basically I am my own ISP without monthly fee. The only obstacle is the 26kb limit. It makes various services that I use time out. I need at least 36kb speed. As mentioned before router, analog modem and phone line support 44kb when I dial out, so it must be some setting or perhaps an artificial limitation by the phone company.
The only thing I can personally think of is that your connection is trying to get symmetric speeds, i.e. download the same as upload. As far as I understand it, your set up is this: you have an analogue modem at your remote location and use that to connection to your home location via another analogue modem. So it's Analogue (remote) <-> Analogue (home) <-> Cable (home)
there might actually be a limit to the upload rate on your modem... and there may be very little you can do about it. it could be a variety of things.. poor phone lines.. maybe the modem you are using on your laptop? is having compatibility issues, negotiation issues, etc... maybe see if a friend of yours can dial in at a different speed. and, is 26kb vs 44kb over dial up really that much difference? i never really noticed any difference when using dial up and i had 33.6k or 56k or 48k or whatever.. it all seemed the same to me.
Interesting idea about asymetric up/down connection, so I ran a test. Setup: Laptop (IBM Thinkpad R51, Windows XP) with built in modem connected to my regular phone line, so it can dial out while the other modem on the router is connected to its own phone line. The laptop can also access the wireless connection to the router when the radio is enabled. For testing dial-up the radio is disabled in hardware, just like on the road. "Dial-up ISP" is a local connection of Nethere (www.nethere.com). "Cable" connection is Comcast, New Hampshire. "Home ISP" is my old Courier modem connected to the Netgear router on its own dedicated phone line. Bandwidth test run from http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ (NY server) Speed results (kbaud): Cable:............Up: 1340 , Down: 6382 Dial-up ISP:.....Up: 279, Down: 42 Home ISP:......Up: 79, Down: 23 [edit] Forgot this one: Using Dial-up ISP, but through the wireless router and analog modem, router reports that modem is connected at 45 .........................Up: 76, Down: 39 [/edit] Looks all highly asymmetric to me. There must be some compression or other magic involved. The question now is: How can I get my "Home ISP" to the speed of the "Dial-up ISP"? I would already be happy with 42kb either way. Note: Earlier in this thread some doubts were voiced up about the significance of the difference between 26kb and 44kb. - Yes, it does make a difference to some secure servers, like those used by Ameritrade, Schwab, Bank of America, and other financial institutions.
