BEagle. If you are on an 'up to 8 meg' deal, that is the most you could ever see. Practically, it will always be a lot less than that; how much less depends on distance from exchange (1 mile is considered a long way), condition of the line, extention cables that you may use to connect and time of day (more people using the system the slower the connection). My 'up to 8 meg' can vary from 500 k at a busy time of day to 4.5 meg in the early hours. In geek speak, this system is known as 'rate adaptive'. The kit in the exchange continually monitors the performance of the line, and trys to give you the highest speed that is stable.