<compete for bandwidth availability. As a result, DSL speed guarantees have <absolutely NOTHING to do with the internet speed you get. I won't go into <examples, but I'm sure many folks here will immediately see the <ramifications of this. Think of a file download where each packet comes at <256k but there's 300ms pauses between each packet! I already hit sites like that with my 33.6 modem. My take is the path is as good as the narrowest point and likely the DSL connection is not that choke point. Allison