🚀 go-pugleaf

> I realize whether the data transmitted is raw, zipped, rar'd,
> yEnc'd or mimed doesn't matter, but I do not believe bitrate can
> exceed 56KB (if that) - and most of the others in the thread
> seem to feel the same way.

I think folks are arguing two different things here...

Physically, a 56k modem can download at max, with a perfect line at 53kbit 
per second. (53k here in Canada and US. Not sure if other areas limit power 
the same as here). That is the raw data between modems.

Data can be transmitted THROUGH the modem much faster if the data is easily 
compressed WITHIN the modem (yes, dialup modems do compression on the fly). 
For example, send a large text file full of space characters only and the 
modem will squash that data BEFORE putting it on the line to the other end. 
While the data stream never goes above the 53kbps limit between the modems, 
the actual data throughput is much higher.

If you want to test efficiency, create a text document, about one megabyte 
in size, that contains nothing but space characters. This file contains 
8388608 bits of data. After adding a start bit, parity bit and stop bit you 
end up with 11534336 bits of data. At 100% efficiency (which will never 
happen), this file could be dowloaded in 217.6 seconds.

Zip this file using your compression ratio of choice. This file should be a 
LOT smaller than the original.

At this point you should have "bigfile.txt" and "bigfile.zip"

Put both of these files onto webspace on the internet somplace and try to 
download them with your 56k modem. What kind of download speeds and download 
times do you actually see?

... and there is one other item to take into consideration here. A 56kbit 
modem will ONLY run faster than 33.6kbit if the answering end of the system 
is digital. It can't be an analog phone line, etc. This means you'll never 
get 56kbit dialing between PC modems.