Hi Jack

Ouch! modem connections are tough with p2p: even with cable I often see d/l's at less than 4k/secs. Could be that even with broadband you'll not see much better.

All you can do with your current and very adequate set-up is max out your RAM. If you do decide on a bigger faster machine (unecessary for p2p right now), you should be able to put the old ram to the new machine. If you're going to spend money and broadband is not an option, that might be the cheapest way to go first.

When I was on a Mac PB 5300 running 8.6, I learned that the first files that showed up in searches usually had the fastest connection times. I'd use the browse host feature to then see what files I could get. So, that's another trick.

The best solution would be broadband. Can you contact any ISP's in your area to see what options besides AOL you have?

BTW--welcome. Your advice to others has been appreciated.