Bob,
I have a Compaq Presario with a 56K flex modem. Government regulations do not allow that fast of speed, so I think Im going as fast as the law allows.. One thing you might want to check; and that I didn't obtain the 40 and 44,000 speeds until I upgraded my software. My son told me where to download it from Compaq and once I did that, I was up and flying. Im not technical anymore, but it seems they are always upgrading software for the parts in your computer. The other thing is to make sure your ISP has 56K flex or v92 which ever one matches your type of modem . They are 2 different types of technology.