Phone lines are NOT set up to handle 56k speeds for one thing. and if you need to know your speeds you shoud do a speed test at http://www.dslreports.com/stest they have a section there were you can test you download and upload speed
There are programs to tweak these settings ...one of the biggest settings in windows to tweak is you rwin (recieve window) But like I said your phone line is not set up for 56k download speeds or even close
Well, the answer to one of your questions, Its AOL :/
Even though it say's its 28.8k it doesn't necesarily mean that it will be 28.8k. I have 1.2mb and my download speed is 100-250kbs, which I consider is fast.
You only get about ~10% of your connection speed just the way it all works. And its not cables because over here our one and only telco is using the same lines as it was using before they brought ADSL here.
try looking for tcp optimizer, I use it all the time to speed things up ...free and very easy to use ... and you could also try regseeker it has a tweaking section in it that allows you to open up more connections to the internet ...both are free and easy to use .... you can find them on google. Read the instructions carefully ..
EDIT: Also DrTcp from the http://www.dslreports.com website is a good tool to ...but I find it a bit harder to use then tcp optimizer
I know I think the guy was like not thinking when he sold it to me, cause they have 4 speeds. I wanted the fastest (which i have right now) and that was 35 bucks, but then he says "ok they are coming out in 2 weeks to install it and it will add 19.95 to your cable bill" I said OK thanks lol
And bigguy I said 3mb download and 1mb upload... Download speed is faster =)