A 56 kbps modem is the equivalent of 8KB/s however there will be some loss due to overhead. So at very best you'd get a total of 7 KB/s but on average about 5 KB/s. That is the total upload & downld combined (unlike cable/broadband, etc. that have separate upld & downld speeds.) So that means you need to balance your upld & downld bandwidth. eg: say 3-3.5 down & 1.75-2 up. Unfortunately on dial up it's not possible to get better than that. I used LW on dial up for over 3 years (until 6 months ago.) We dial up users often have the hardest (rare ones) to get files ... I mean that in more ways than one lol.

For fastest downlds try not to downld too many at once. Keep it to one or 2 or perhaps 3 max. But at 3 you might be testing others patience. lol

Make sure you have your firewalls set up correctly for LW to pass thru both ways. See: http://www.limewire.com/english/content/firewalls.shtml

After LW's been on for at least 30 mins or much longer, Do this test: Bug Report instructions & sample image If it's True then that's good & healthy. If it's False then you have a firewall that's not properly configured for others to upld from you.

I'm not sure what you mean there. That sounds like half the speed of dial up or if that's 26 KB/s then that must be high speed dial up which is about 5 times faster than standard dial up. Our ISP also has it. If that's the case, then you can afford to increase your downld & upld speeds. Say 20 down & 5-6 up or there abouts. Or Murasame will be able to give you a better idea of ideal setting. Uploading definitely helps with downlding & overall performance.