I have been "online" since 95'ish. I have went thru:
14.4 modem
28.8 modem
56k
After that I had moved out west and the person I stayed with (til I got my own place) had an equivalent of a T1 running into their place, not sure the specks on it.
Went back to a 56k, uggg need I say painful?

Then Cox Communications for awhile with their DSL, o and their customer service is a POS by the way - case anyone wondered.
Now I am in SC with a 10/1 residential line. I love my interwebberz.