gatbusta187; I need more info before I can help.Were you getting the faster speed with the same connection you are using now?For example same ISP,modem.OS & PC.What modem & OS do you have?If you know how far are you from the telco terminal?

These are some of the tweaks in my OS:
Download & install Cablenut;use the ccs file for your OS & connection.
I make these adjustments to Cablenut for a custom dial-up file if it doesn't make yours work better you can use the ones that
it puts in automatically.On the RWIN use the one of the settings suggested by  TCP\IP analyzer for  RWIN based on MSS & enable
 windows scaling if you use a RWIN larger than 65535.On my Cablenut this is Tcp1323Opts set to 1to enable 0(zero) to disable.
Check your system at  http://www.[this.site.has.been.blocked.for.spamming]/  . Select the TCP\IP analyzer.
If it shows your MTU other than 1500 or your MSS other than 1460 you need to change it to these.
I will add this some dial-up's work better with MTU = 576  MSS = 536 so you can try these too if the larger settings slow
you down.
You can't make these with Cablenut .I do mine in the registry so I can't tell you how to do it in XP registry.If you have a
program that adjusts your MTU &MSS use it.
In My Computer go to dial-up networking R.click on your connection select properties.This may be different in XP I will
give you the way I do it in ME P probably has the same
settings they may be located a little differently. General\Configure on the dial-up modem you are using\maximum speed to
115200.\connection\port settings\set your FIFO Buffers to maximum.\advanced error control should be checked,compressed
data should be checked,use flow control should be checked,
Then it depends on the dial-up modem you have Check hardware for an external dial-up modem or an internal with on board
controller,Check software for an internal
 modem that uses the CPU for its controller(this is the majority of internal modems also called winmodems.)
For extra settings try W3;S10=50;S25=100 these depend on your specific modem but these work for several.
W3 makes the modem report DCE speed instead of DTE speed.S10=50 is a hangup delay that helps keep you connected.Try
these last sometimes the ISP won't connect with the extra settings & you have  to take them out.
Back to the General tab if the phone number you use for dial-up is in the same area code as you are
uncheck the use area code box.In the networking tab  under advanced options check enable software compression
& under allowed network protocols uncheck everything but TCP|IP unless your dial-up uses one of the others to connect.
. Open your registry (start - run - type regedit) and change the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net\000X (where X is a number between 1 and 9)there is a value
named SLOWNET, change it from 01 to 00.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\COMBUFF it has a value called Start, change its value from 00 to 01.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VCACHE, it has a value named Start, change it from 00 to 01.

The last 2 are controversial whether the help or not they usually don't hurt performance & sometimes help.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\PriorityControl (if PriorityControl is not there, make the value) - on
the right hand side right click and select new DWORD value, name it IrqXPriority (X = Irq assigned to your modem),
then right click it and select modify and give it a decimal value of 1.

9. Open your sys.ini file (start - run -sysedit - ME type system.ini) close the boxes until you are at the one with the title
 C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI,
under [386enh] add the line ComXXIrqXXbuffer=4096, XX=Com port your modem is on and Irq assigned to your modem,
it should look like Com03Irq07buffer=4096. Then select file - save and reboot to take effect.

You can check these 2 links they are for 98   or ME you may need the patch in one of them to enable windows scaling.
http://testmy.net/forum/index.php?topic=1772.0
http://testmy.net/forum/index.php?topic=1633.0
FOR FASTER WEB PAGE LOADING:
This tweak will help web pages load faster, it has no real effect on download speeds, just helps your pc look up websites faster thereby speeding up how fast the page loads and making websurfing more enjoyable.
Navigate to this registry entry and change the following settings:
For XP & 2K
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
\Tcpip\ServiceProvider
For 98, 98SE & ME
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
\VxD\MSTCP\ServiceProvider
On the right for ALL OS's change these entries: (ALL values are HEXIDECIMAL)
I have seen these both ways so use what works best for your OS
Class = 1
LocalPriority = 1                                           Class=8
 DnsPriority = 1                                     LocalPriority = 1
HostsPriority = 1                                    DnsPriority = 3
NetbtPriority = 1                                    HostsPriority = 2                                           
                                                    NetbtPriority = 4                         
                                   
             
To change the value right mouse click on the value and select modify and enter the values above once you have done all of them reboot to take effect and see how fast your pages load.
For 98 & ME they should all look like:
01 00 00 00

it has to do with your phone line, pretty sure, that and maybe where your dialing to.