A little info on ISP's.
There are two services that you need to "connect to" the internet: Access and Content.
For the AOL that you are using now, access is provided free through you local phone company. Content is provided through one of AOL's servers. (Note: Technically, you are not "on" the internet, AOL's server is, and they allow you access through this.) If you choose to stay at 56K dial-up, you can choose another content provider such as Earthlink. I had good luck with them before I went to cable.
If you want to increase your speed you could choose DSL. This is usually provided by a phone company and is usually access only. If it is access only, you can choose you own content provider (such as Earthlink). DSL runs at about 640K-1500K for uploads and downloads when sold for home use. This may be a good choice if you upload a lot of large files (unlikely since you now use a 56k connection.) It can be more expensive than you think because you have to pay for the access (DSL) and the content (Earthlink?) separately.
I chose a cable modem because the download speed is incredible and the access AND content is provided by my cable company for one monthly fee. Also, it is cheaper for me to use this than a DSL connection. The cable modem is usually faster than DSL for downloads. Using various speed tests on the internet, I got between 1600k and 4000k during the middle of the day. The variation can depend on traffic on the internet, and traffic on the local cable system. It never seems slow to me. I do not know the upload speed, but it is not as fast as the download speed. This is not important to me because I rarely (never) try to send tens or hundreds of megabyte files. If I want to send that much, I would be better off just mailing a CD.
I do not use the cable company's start page. I make good use of the bookmarks in Safari so this is not necessary. I have the browser set to open to a blank page when a new window or tab is started because this is much faster. My home page is set to apple.com.
There are two services that you need to "connect to" the internet: Access and Content.
For the AOL that you are using now, access is provided free through you local phone company. Content is provided through one of AOL's servers. (Note: Technically, you are not "on" the internet, AOL's server is, and they allow you access through this.) If you choose to stay at 56K dial-up, you can choose another content provider such as Earthlink. I had good luck with them before I went to cable.
If you want to increase your speed you could choose DSL. This is usually provided by a phone company and is usually access only. If it is access only, you can choose you own content provider (such as Earthlink). DSL runs at about 640K-1500K for uploads and downloads when sold for home use. This may be a good choice if you upload a lot of large files (unlikely since you now use a 56k connection.) It can be more expensive than you think because you have to pay for the access (DSL) and the content (Earthlink?) separately.
I chose a cable modem because the download speed is incredible and the access AND content is provided by my cable company for one monthly fee. Also, it is cheaper for me to use this than a DSL connection. The cable modem is usually faster than DSL for downloads. Using various speed tests on the internet, I got between 1600k and 4000k during the middle of the day. The variation can depend on traffic on the internet, and traffic on the local cable system. It never seems slow to me. I do not know the upload speed, but it is not as fast as the download speed. This is not important to me because I rarely (never) try to send tens or hundreds of megabyte files. If I want to send that much, I would be better off just mailing a CD.
I do not use the cable company's start page. I make good use of the bookmarks in Safari so this is not necessary. I have the browser set to open to a blank page when a new window or tab is started because this is much faster. My home page is set to apple.com.