Dial-up forum: 56k connection has slowed down to snails pace!

This is because the big guy has bought out the little guy. Cheap! As the dot coms failed, these little local providers failed too. Higher taxes, higher legal expenses, and more threats. Basically spending more than the company was worth. Constant software "upgrades" ate the life out of the independent internet provider. You may thank your intellectual Gates for that part of the job.
Remember the court case over the infringement on IBM dos? This is evedent of the type of personality and morals this great "Philanthropist" has. He has now given half his fortune to charity. I wonder why he can't just give it back to those he stole it from.
They call it intellectual rights. But anyone who figures out how to trick people to spend money, whether it's on snake oil or software upgrades is nothing but a cheater, and should be punished by the very laws that have been supporting him.
Anyway, these expenses drove out the boy and girl next door and Mom and Pop. Now, the big corporations, and the fat cat downtown own them all, and they don't want to keep the dial ups going, they just want you to pay about $30 a month for dsl or $40 for cable, and if you live in a wealthy area of the country, regardless of your neighborhood, even more. If they call you a business, they want yet more! And you are to be a serfdom classless citizen.
You will be forced to dsl or better, and the government will pick up the tab. -- sort of.